Chapter 506 - 488: Breaking Through the Dragon Tendon

"Just send them directly to the backyard."

A short while later, Liu Wu walked into the backyard with light steps. Following behind her were three to five stewards and servants, each holding several brocade boxes.

"Wu, why did you come in person? Please, take a seat."

They sat around the stone table. Wasting no time, Liu Wu took a brocade box directly from an attendant, placed it on the table, and opened it. Instantly, a medicinal fragrance wafted out, revealing a top-grade Dragon Tendon Pill inside.

"Brother Su, our family’s Alchemist is quite skilled and produced a top-grade Dragon Tendon Pill. You can wait until your Jiao Tendon Perfection before taking it. Perhaps you can use this opportunity to open the Dragon Tendon Realm in one fell swoop."

"Oh? Please explain in detail, Wu."

Su Yu did not know how to initiate cultivation in the Dragon Tendon Realm, as such knowledge did not circulate in the Outer City. He took this opportunity to ask her thoroughly. Fortunately, coming from a large family, Liu Wu was highly knowledgeable and answered all of Su Yu’s questions.

After reaching Muscle Forging Realm Perfection, one had to use a Dragon Tendon Pill to open the Dragon Breath Acupoint in order to begin cultivation in the Dragon Tendon Realm. Otherwise, their progression would head straight toward the Profound Bone Realm’s Dazhu Acupoint. Once the Dazhu Acupoint was opened first, the martial artist would step onto the path of Bone Marrow Cleansing and Bone Refining. Their Qi and Blood would transfer from the tendons into the marrow, causing the tendon acupoints throughout the body to close. From then on, breaking through to the Dragon Tendon would be nearly impossible.

"Brother Su, with your talent, you must do your best to break through to the True Dragon Tendon. This affects your future Martial Arts ceiling, and even your chances of breaking through to Grandmaster."

"Thank you, Wu. I understand the situation now."

Su Yu thanked her earnestly. This might seem like a simple piece of advice, but without anyone to point it out, it was a massive pitfall. This was also the tragedy of ordinary people; the path of Martial Arts was already arduous, and without the experience of predecessors, a single misstep would truly ruin one’s entire life.

Liu Wu then strolled around the Su Mansion for a while. She seemed to hit it off exceptionally well with Yang Ai. The two lively, youthful girls chattered away joyfully.

"Ai’Er, when you go to the Inner City, you must come visit the Liu family’s home," Liu Wu said.

"Hehe, I’ll definitely look for you then!" Yang Ai replied.

After sending Liu Wu off, Su Yu went straight back to the backyard. He picked up the Dragon Tendon Pill on the table, a trace of anticipation rising in his heart.

He thought, "This time, I should be able to break through to the Perfection Realm. I wonder how the system will change then. Based on past experience, when a Cultivation Technique reaches Perfection, I will break through into the next major Realm. However, with the hidden realm of the Dragon Tendon Mirror now in play, I’m afraid of directly breaking through to the Profound Bone Realm instead. According to what Wu said, the key lies in which acupoint is opened. When my Qi and Blood are abundant later, I’ll try to control them and charge toward the Dragon Breath Acupoint!"

Once everything was ready, Su Yu swallowed the Dragon Tendon Pill and immediately began to practice the Cyan Wood Shadow Ape Fist.

[Cyan Wood Shadow Ape Fist Skill Level +80]

[Cyan Wood Shadow Ape Fist Skill Level +90]

...

Several hours later, as the final Skill Level bonus lit up before his eyes, the experience for the Cyan Wood Shadow Ape Fist was finally full.

[Martial Arts]: Cyan Wood Shadow Ape Fist (Great Success 4000/4000)

Just as Su Yu was preparing to welcome the changes in his body, the panel information before his eyes changed once again.

[Detected that the Cyan Wood Shadow Ape Fist has reached Perfection. Providing two pathway options.]

[Option 1: Directly break through to the Profound Bone Realm. Hint: This path will cause subsequent Realm changes and increase the difficulty when breaking through to new Realms.]

[Option 2: Initiate cultivation in the Dragon Tendon Mirror. Hint: This path can enhance Martial Arts foundation, making subsequent Realm breakthroughs easier.]

"It’s quite smart!"

Seeing this, Su Yu felt a sense of relief. As expected of a peerless talent, it actually provided two options.

"Option two!"

He didn’t hesitate at all. With the experience of predecessors as a guide, enhancing his foundation would only bring benefits and no harm.

[Martial Arts]: Cyan Wood Shadow Ape Fist (Minor Perfection 1/2000)

Following the changes on the panel before him, earth-shattering transformations began to take place within his body. His entire body’s Qi and Blood roared and surged like the opened floodgates of the Celestial Mirror River Water. Their destination was precisely the mysterious and unpredictable Dragon Breath Acupoint!

Employing his Divine Sense Internal Observation skillfully, Su Yu looked within. Between his heart and lungs, there was originally a dark region. According to ancient texts, this was the most profound and obscure part of the human body; normally, even when illuminating it with Divine Sense, it was difficult to glimpse its location. However, at this moment, this area was emitting an astonishing starlight. With the beating of his heart, it was as if a massive star was slowly rising. The brilliant starlight grew denser until it completely illuminated the dark region. This rising massive star was precisely the Dragon Breath Acupoint. Right now, it hovered between his heart and lungs, continuously exuding an astonishing suction force.

BOOM!

The first torrent of Qi and Blood surged forward, crashing against the Dragon Breath Acupoint. Su Yu’s chest trembled, and his face immediately flushed red. He felt as if a heavy hammer had struck between his heart and lungs. This was the key to breaking through the Dragon Breath Acupoint and initiating cultivation in the Dragon Tendon Mirror: using a torrent of Qi and Blood to force open the Dragon Breath Heavenly Gate.

Originally, this process would take a long time; depending on a person’s physical talent, the difficulty of the impact varied. But after Su Yu’s Qi and Blood crashed against it just this once, a CRACK of shattering resonated within his body. As if an invisible bottleneck had been broken, the Dragon Breath Star hovering high above flared brilliantly, completely reviving. The Qi and Blood acted like a blood-red heavenly river flowing upstream, connecting the Dragon Breath Star with his body and forming a cycle of Qi and Blood.

THUMP!

The beating of Su Yu’s heart instantly became much more powerful. Wherever the surging Qi and Blood passed through his body, his Great Tendons were seemingly remolded, beginning to tear and reconstruct. Su Yu immediately grimaced; this bone-deep agony was exactly the same as when he broke through to the Muscle Forging Realm. Breaking through to the Dragon Tendon could actually remold the body’s Great Tendons once again!

He immediately gritted his teeth and endured it, carefully sensing the changes in his Great Tendons. Originally, after achieving Jiao Tendon Perfection, the Great Tendons throughout his body had already become a resplendent gold. Now, however, they surprisingly began to restrain their brilliance, precipitating inward once more. A short while later, although that Great Tendon remained Dark Gold, a small section of it actually began to emit a jade-like luster.

White Jade Tendon!

Su Yu’s heart jolted as he immediately recalled Liu Wu’s words. If one truly broke through to the True Dragon Tendon, the body’s Great Tendons would instead take on a jade color akin to Returning to the Essence. This jade color was even stronger than the Dark Gold Jiao Tendon!

Using his Divine Sense Internal Observation to look further, Su Yu discovered that this Baiyu color was extraordinary; there seemed to be deeper changes within. Sure enough, with the precise scanning of his Divine Sense Internal Observation, he quickly spotted the clues. Traces of the Great Tendons’ essence sank into it, transforming into fine, dense patterns that continuously extended and intertwined along the meridians. In the end, they faintly formed streaks of dragon patterns that seemed to be coiling and leaping! If he hadn’t possessed Divine Sense Internal Observation, he would never have discovered this transformation.

Before Su Yu could think further, an even more violent metamorphosis arrived. Waves of Qi and Blood began to flow faster, refining the Great Tendons throughout his entire body. The level of pain also doubled, causing Su Yu to involuntarily breathe heavily. With every breath, his heartbeat grew more intense, inadvertently stirring up even stronger Qi and Blood to form a massive tide. Su Yu could only grit his teeth and persistently endure.

...

A full hour later, a resounding boom of all his Great Tendons snapping in unison echoed within Su Yu’s body, marking the complete end of this metamorphosis. Su Yu abruptly opened his eyes, his entire body exuding an astonishing aura. In the distance, Yang Zhen, who habitually stood guard as a protector for Su Yu, saw him stand up. In that instant, it was as if Yang Zhen had seen a True Dragon awakened by the spring Thunder!

Of course, this was merely an illusion. It was simply that Su Yu’s spirit and energy in that split second seemed to contain and comprehend a certain draconic charm. Su Yu exhaled a breath of stale air and inspected his body’s acupoints. The Dragon Breath Acupoint was open, while the Dazhu Acupoint showed no activity. He confirmed that he had truly broken through to the Dragon Tendon Mirror!