Chapter 23: Refining the Earth Dragon Fruit

  In the mountain cave, quiet and soundless, Ning Chong sat cross-legged on the ground, his body bare.

  He picked up the bright red pitaya, and with a small knife, he made a small incision on the surface of the fruit. Suddenly, deep red juice seeped out from the fruit body. Without even holding it in his hands, just by looking at it, one could feel that the juice was scorching hot.

  Without any delay, he immediately applied the deep red liquid all over his body.

  After the juice was squeezed out, the dried longan shriveled up into a ball and had lost most of its spiritual energy. Ning Chong tossed it aside and began to meditate, absorbing the essence of the longan fruit on his body's surface.

  The juice of the earth dragon fruit applied to his skin was even more scorching, burning his skin with a searing pain. Ning Chong didn't mind this at all, and instead knew that it was a sign that the earth dragon fruit's juice was taking effect. He adjusted his breathing, using his usual method, opening up all 36,000 pores on his body, allowing the earth dragon fruit's juice to slowly penetrate into his skin, tempering his flesh.

  Only then did the action occur, and that strange feeling arose again. Ning Chong's heart was slightly surprised, indeed he didn't expect that this strange feeling would also have an effect on absorbing the spiritual medicine's efficacy!

  Immediately abandon the ordinary absorption method, follow this feeling and walk with it, use the best method and route to efficiently absorb the essence of Dilong fruit into the body.

  For a moment, I only felt that the dragon fruit juice on my skin suddenly "gurgled" out a burst of fiery energy, desperately drilling into my skin. The speed was faster, but the painful feeling was also doubled.

  As the tempering continued, Ning Chong's entire body was like being cooked, his skin radiating a red glow, each bead of sweat evaporating into water vapor, transforming into white mist that wafted upwards and dissipated.

  While Ning Chong was experiencing this, it was as if he had fallen into a blazing furnace. His entire body felt scorching hot, with no part of him unaffected by the heat. He endured the pain of being scorched all over, his spirit and willpower highly concentrated, always maintaining an even absorption of the Dilong fruit juice through his skin.

  "Is it painful? Is it sad? Haha! You've survived over a decade of being a waste, what's this little bit of pain compared to that?! Ning Chong, if you want to gain power, you have to pay the corresponding price! If you don't want to be a waste for your whole life, then endure clearly and remember today and future sufferings clearly, let them all become the marks of your journey to the top!"

  Ning Chong was self-motivating in his heart, and his muscles were constantly twitching slightly all over his body. His body trembled, but from start to finish, he remained silent, maintaining a state of quiescence, with his spirit clear and concentrated, tempering his flesh.

  It wasn't until nearly half a day later that the crimson glow on Ning Chong's body surface gradually cooled down, and the steam rising from his skin also slowly decreased.

  At this time, Ning Chong could clearly feel that the pain in his body had eased a lot, and his whole body seemed to have a surge of power flowing through it, as if every cell was filled with energy, swelling and bursting.

  After a while, the red color on the surface completely disappeared, and the juice of the Dilong fruit had been fully absorbed by Ning Chong. The essence had all been refined into his skin and flesh.

  He suddenly opened his eyes, Ning Chong let out a long breath of turbid air, and after calming down, he stood up. After refining the Dilong fruit, Ning Chong's sweat contained a large amount of dark gray impurities, looking dirty.

  This is the impurity discharged when tempering, and the taste may not be good. Ning Chong didn't rush to wash up in the waterfall outside the cave, taking a refreshing bath.

  He tidied up his clothes and rushed ashore, his eyes fixed on a square rock beside the waterfall. He took a deep breath, and with a loud shout, he struck out with his right fist.

  Bang!

  His right fist struck the square stone with force, sending sparks flying, and instantly left a fist print about an inch deep. He withdrew his fist, Ning Chong looked at his right fist which felt nothing unusual, then looked at the fist print on the square stone, and couldn't help but feel joyful and excited.

  "Hmm! This ordinary punch from the luck attack has a force of almost two thousand catties, which is more than twice the nine hundred or so catties when I tempered my body with the Earth Dragon Fruit! The Earth Dragon Fruit is indeed one of the top-grade spiritual medicines for tempering the body!"

  No wonder Ning Chong was so surprised, a punch with a force of two thousand catties, this is something that the vast majority of martial artists at the second stage of Wu Tu dare not even think about, because such power has almost caught up with the same level of physical repair that focuses on cultivating power.

  Martial arts cultivation, cultivating internal yuanqi is orthodox martial arts, but it's not the only one. On the continent of Shenwu, there are still a considerable number of people who, due to limitations such as innate talent and physical body, have taken another path of martial cultivation.

  "This 'body repair' is one of them."

  What is meant by "physical refinement" is naturally refining the body, using methods that enhance physical strength and intensity to pursue a higher level of martial arts.

  Compared to the normal martial arts training, Ti Xiu rarely trains internal yuan qi. Their training focuses on physical strength and power, using all means to enhance their power and physical strength. It is said that if Ti Xiu can train to a high level of attainment, they can cultivate a "golden body", manifest a "dharma form", and possess the power to destroy heaven and earth, able to split the sky and crack the earth with just brute force alone.

  Physical refinement, the basic realm is "practicing skin realm" corresponding to ordinary martial arts' "martial artist realm", and it is also divided into ten levels. However, compared to ordinary martial arts, the advancement of physical refinement levels is not based on the improvement of internal yuan qi cultivation, but rather the improvement of strength. Every time physical refinement increases by "one cow" of power - that is, one thousand jin, it can actually increase in strength and advance to the next level.

  In addition, the "Practicing Leather Boundary" of Ti Xiu has ten levels, which is also divided into three stages like the "Martial Practitioner Boundary" of Wu Xiu. Each stage is further divided into a level called Primary Ti Xiu, Intermediate Ti Xiu, Advanced Ti Xiu, and finally, the Peak Ti Xiu.

  At this level of attainment, after the initial stage of physical refinement has reached its peak, one possesses the strength of three oxen, a power of 3,000 jin, with skin and flesh as tough as tree bark, impervious to needle pricks.

  After reaching the peak of intermediate body refinement, one possesses the strength of six oxen, with a power of 6,000 catties. The outer skin is as tough as cowhide and can defend against ordinary sharp swords.

  After reaching the pinnacle of physical refinement, one possesses the strength of nine oxen, a massive power of 9,000 kilograms, with skin and flesh as tough as iron, making it difficult for swords to penetrate.

  The final tenth stage is the peak of the skin-refining realm, at this time, the body's single arm can easily have the strength of nine oxen and two tigers, exceeding ten thousand catties of massive power. It has become an undisputed super strongman, and the body's skin and flesh are as tough as copper and iron, making it impervious to knives and guns.

  Ti Xiu's actual combat strength is not weak, and even has some advantages compared to the same level Wu Xiu. This is because Wu Xiu's internal yuan energy will be consumed quickly during battle, while Ti Xiu relies mainly on physical strength, so as long as they have physical energy, they don't fear consumption.

  However, the path of physical refinement is even more difficult than normal martial arts training, consuming more resources and having stricter conditions. Nevertheless, this is also one of the methods for those martial artists who are not gifted enough to achieve their martial dreams.

  Ning Chong had once thought of becoming a Body Refiner, but unfortunately, he was born with a weak physique and his strength did not meet the standards. Moreover, Body Refiners needed to spend a large amount of money and resources to refine their bodies. In his family, where his status was even lower than that of some servants and slaves, he ultimately had no choice but to give up on this idea.

  Now, Ning Chong has only refined a piece of Earth Dragon Fruit, and his power has soared, almost possessing the strength of "Second Ox", reaching the power standard of Second-Order Body Refining. From this, it can be seen that this Earth Dragon Fruit is called a top-grade spiritual medicine for refining the body, its effect is indeed extremely astonishing.

  After the surge in power, Ning Chong's martial arts ultimate move "Rolling Stone Cannon" has also been greatly enhanced. Now when he unleashes the "Rolling Stone Cannon", his quadrupled fist strength can at least explode with a massive force of nearly 8,000 kilograms! A full double increase from before!

  Undoubtedly, Ning Chong's actual combat ability has been greatly enhanced once again after his power skyrocketed! He is very confident, even if it were the five people he met in Xiaoyu Valley who joined forces to defend together, he could disperse them with one punch and clean up the five of them like slaughtering chickens.