Chapter 228: Chapter 154: Terrifying Gap
Translator: 549690339
[Name: Lu Yuan] [Talent: Immortality]
[Age: 30]
[Realm: Postnatal (First-Class Peak)]
[Martial Arts: Chi Yang Divine Skill (Mental Technique Complete, Palm skill
Great Success, Finger and Sword techniques uninitiated) Replenishing Qi Heart
Sutra (Eighth Layer) Cloud Palm (Third Layer Peak)]
[Skills: Advanced Archery (Complete) Advanced Medical Skill (Minor Success)
Advanced Cooking (Minor Success)…]
Lu Yuan’s consciousness withdrew from the attribute bar and returned to reality, feeling happy but somewhat regretful.
After meditating for half a month and taking five Pure Water Profound Pills, he finally achieved perfect Inner Strength and reached the peak of first-class Jianghu.
However, although his Inner Strength reached its limit, his other techniques were still his weakness.
Thanks to his previous practice of Cloud Palm over the years, he managed to achieve great success in Chi Yang Palm skill, barely reaching the level of first-class status.
But the other finger and sword techniques, due to his lack of prior exposure, had not even reached the entrance level.
In comparison to his Inner Strength, his three outer techniques really lagged far behind.
“Even so, with first-class peak Inner Strength and beginner-level first-class techniques, my combat strength should be no less than that of a normal Jianghu first-class peak.”
“After all, my Inner Strength, compared to other first-class peak experts, has been tempered by the jade piece, making it much purer and more refined than normal people’s.”
“This alone is enough to offset the gap in techniques.”
Lu Yuan was extremely confident in his Inner Strength’s purity.
His Inner Strength had reached the point of being so pure that it could change his own temperament, causing outsiders to be amazed.
When Lu Yuan was only at the second-class level, Qi Yun regarded his temperament, which was brought by his Inner Strength, as the Unparalleled Daoist Seed, and immediately accepted him as a fellow Daoist on the spot.
Now that he had improved from second-class to first-class, the change in his temperament was even more remarkable.
Who could imagine how exaggerated Lu Yuan’s Inner Strength purity had become?
To better illustrate this, let’s use a simple example.
If the quality of a normal first-class peak expert’s Inner Strength could be rated as ten – where ten represents the appropriate purity for their skill level Lu Yuan’s Inner Strength would be nearly triple that, almost reaching thirty.
“However, these past few weeks, my Inner Strength has surged, increasing by almost 60%, so its purity might have decreased to around twenty.”
“But as long as I continue refining it with the jade piece, I will soon be able to recover this loss and it won’t be a major issue.”
Lu Yuan channeled his Inner Strength into his palm, turning it instantly red. As he marveled at the frenzy of power that swirled within, his eyes shone with a mix of astonishment and delight.
At times, he even felt as though his Inner Strength differed from that of the ordinary Jianghu martial artists.
This wasn’t merely an illusion of self-satisfaction – there were genuine differences.
Lu Yuan had tested this with Zhou Qing and his other disciples.
Although the Inner Strength they practiced varied slightly — owing to different techniques and body constitutions – their essences remained fundamentally similar.
However, when compared to them, Lu Yuan’s Inner Strength exhibited visibly different qualities.
Take, for example, the Cloud Palm skill, practiced by most of his disciples.
This technique adhered to the Daoist school’s carefree philosophy. As a result, the Inner Strength it produced carried an air of carefreeness.
For ordinary people, however, this carefree demeanor lacked substance; it was merely a superficial appearance, lacking depth and authenticity.
Lu Yuan’s carefreeness, on the other hand – or that which was achieved after retining his Inner Strength with the jade piece – possessed an additional touch of spirituality, creating a sense of genuine elegance.
This spirituality not only altered his aura; it also allowed him to execute his techniques with even greater ease and fluency while remaining harmoniously unified with his Inner Strength.
It was as if the compatibility between Inner Strength and techniques had been maximized, increasing its power output by threefold in his hands alone.
Moreover, this spirituality enabled Lu Yuan’s Inner Strength to become considerably more effective than that of the ordinary martial artist, increasing his capabilities by several folds in areas like body refining, healing, cultivation, physical enhancement, and aura sensing.
These significant differences sometimes made him question whether his power could still be considered Inner Strength.
After all, ordinary people’s Inner Strength was nowhere near as versatile or potent, lacking the so-called “jack of all trades” quality that Lu Yuan’s Inner Strength possessed.
With such an all-encompassing functionality, it seemed less like martial arts and more akin to the legendary Immortal Technique within the tales.
However, even if it was considered an Immortal Technique, he wouldn’t be able to perform spells with it.
At most, he could manipulate the nature of his Inner Strength. For instance, he could transform his Chi Yang Inner Strength into an extremely hot energy source and, with a single strike, melt metal.
Despite the high temperature, his skin would remain unharmed.
Moreover, if Lu Yuan wished, he could project his Inner Strength outward, forming a Chi Yang energy field within about a three-foot radius around his body.
Within this energy field, swords and blades would be unable to penetrate or break through. Additionally, anything that came near would be incinerated.
Such a technique bordered on the Immortal realm.
“A first-class martial artist can defeat a thousand soldiers. When I first entered the first-class realm, I found that statement to be an exaggeration because I couldn’t achieve it. I thought it was just a figure of speech..”