Chapter 361 - 352: [Enchanting Heart], [Lifting Power], [Iron Armor], Hating Heaven for Having No Handle, Hating Earth for Having No Ring

Chapter 361: Chapter 352: [Enchanting Heart], [Lifting Power], [Iron Armor], Hating Heaven for Having No Handle, Hating Earth for Having No Ring

The woman beside the young man was dressed in Manchu attire, appearing gentle and obedient. At this moment, her face was also filled with utter shock.

But she quickly composed herself and said, "No, you’re mistaken."

"How could I be mistaken!"

The young man grew anxious and said hurriedly, "You even planted that piece of jade from Xie Mingzhi on them! We followed them the entire way..."

"Shut up!"

The woman’s expression turned hostile in an instant. She glared viciously at the young man and hissed, "If you don’t say anything... no one will ever know!"

The young man was frightened by her demeanor. His face went deathly pale as he staggered back two steps, suddenly rendered speechless.

"What I mean is, neither of us can ever speak of this..."

The woman, realizing she had overreacted, immediately softened her expression and lowered her voice as much as possible. "Let’s just pretend we never saw that piece of jade, and that we never saw some Young Master Ling of the Profound Banner in Longqiu..."

She took two steps forward and placed her hand gently on the young man’s arm. "You’ve been formally accepted by your clan now. Although it’s not what we’d hoped for—not the Upper Three Banners—you’re still part of the Zhe Banner’s main family, one of the Nine Banners.

Our livelihood is secure now, so why would we still need that piece of jade...?"

"I... I understand..."

The young man kept his head down, verbally agreeing but not daring to meet her eyes.

"Alright, the Mo Family has suffered a great calamity today. This is your chance to prove yourself..."

The woman glanced around, forced a smile, and coaxed gently, "Listen to me. Go and do something useful right now, make an appearance before your grandfather..."

The young man’s eyes flickered. He suddenly shook off the woman’s hand and stammered, "I... I don’t need you to tell me what to do!"

With that, he scurried away.

Xu Xiangniang watched the young man’s rapidly retreating back. The smile on her face slowly vanished, and her once delicate features darkened.

’She had fought so hard to escape that godforsaken place with the Southwest Fire Cloud Army, and she had finally become a high and mighty, noble Manchu.’

’She wouldn’t allow anyone to destroy everything she now possessed.’

’Not Xie Mingzhi, not Young Master Ling of the Profound Banner, and certainly not those scheming little sluts trying to crawl into her man’s bed!’

’And that, of course, included the very man who had brought her into the Zhe Banner Mo Mansion!’

"I really don’t want to do this to you... but you’re getting more and more disobedient."

Xu Xiangniang muttered to herself, then opened her mouth. Several fly-like insects flew out and sped off in the direction the young man had gone.

.....

The Mu Mansion, back garden.

"Lord, we just... snatched the Mo Family’s Demon Lord. Is that really okay?"

Mu Feng asked cautiously.

Without looking at Mu Feng, Fu Juemin stroked the Black-Scaled Demon Steed’s flank and replied casually, "It insisted on coming with me. What was I supposed to do?"

Fu Juemin had injured this Demon Steed back in the Earth Palace. It had likely eaten its fill of nobles from the Lower Five Banners during the riot, and after being well-fed at the Zhe Banner for the past few days, it seemed to have returned to peak condition.

Crucially, it hadn’t participated in the Magic Sacrifice ritual, so it recovered much faster than an ordinary Demon Official.

The beast revered strength, and perhaps after so many years with the Nine Banners, it was simply sick of the forced bloodletting every five years.

After Fu Juemin gave it a thorough thrashing, it took the opportunity to become his obedient "little brother."

’Who said a demon’s nature was untamable?’

’The more ill-tempered a creature seems, the more a solid smackdown tends to sober it up.’

Fu Juemin absolutely adored this Demon Steed. From the moment he first laid eyes on it, he was determined to make it his mount.

’I can ride it in its normal state, and I can ride it in its Demon Body state...’

Fu Juemin withdrew his hand, thinking, ’The Cyan Banner has a giant Eagle Demon. If I can get my hands on that beast as well, I’ll have mounts for both land and air.’

The Human-faced Gu Carving, in terms of both power and prestige, just wasn’t quite up to his standards...

"From now on, enshrine it as the Demon Lord of your Mu Shulu Clan. And remember, go easy on the bloody meals."

Fu Juemin coolly instructed Mu Feng, who was beside him, "I will be entering a period of seclusion. I won’t be seeing anyone, and I am not to be disturbed."

"Yes."

Mu Feng replied respectfully.

Fu Juemin left the back garden with his hands clasped behind him. He first went to check on Zhang Yi, who had just completed a round of Dirt-Loading, and then on Cao Tian, who was currently attempting to break through to the Tongxuan realm. Li Tong still cared for this "half-apprentice" of his; he had taught Cao Tian some techniques before and had now passed on the Formless Skill to him before leaving.

Fu Juemin had always held high hopes for Cao Tian, so seeing this, he was in even less of a hurry to have him undergo Dirt-Loading.

He simply went ahead and taught the first few levels of the Dragon Elephant Skill and Pharmacist Skill to both Cao Tian and Zhang Yi.

After a Martial Artist undergoes Dirt-Loading, their original Martial Dao Realm becomes "locked," making it nearly impossible for them to advance further in their lifetime.

That was why the Fake Internal Energy Method had always been the choice for Martial Artists who felt they had no hope of achieving another breakthrough in their lifetime.

However, the four great Iron Body Strange Skills could break these shackles. Whether it was the Pharmacist Skill, Dragon Elephant Skill, or Bright King Skill, each formed its own complete system. When practiced to the extreme, the combat power they could unleash allowed one to completely ignore differences in Martial Dao Realms.

Take Fu Juemin, for example. His cultivation was currently stuck at the peak of the Gratitude stage within the Heart Sensing Realm. However, his Dragon Elephant Skill, which he had mastered to the Perfection Realm, was enough for him to casually dominate an ordinary Manifestation Realm Heart Intent user.

The four great Iron Body Strange Skills were perfectly suited for the secondary advancement of a Dirt-Loading Martial Artist.

Of course, the Martial Arts were just Martial Arts. The level one could reach and the final results all depended on the individual.

The same Dragon Elephant Wisdom Seal, for instance, produced completely different effects in the hands of Fu Juemin versus Li Tong.

After checking on Cao Tian and Zhang Yi, Fu Juemin used his Pharmacist Skill to treat the half-dead Hong Huan. Then, he found a quiet room and immediately went into seclusion.

The aftershocks of the Wuchen Grand Sacrifice had yet to fade. He heard that not all the Demon Officials who had escaped during the Earth Palace riot had been recaptured.

On top of that, many nobles from the Lower Five Banners had died, along with Tu Kedi of the Red Banner from the Upper Three Banners... Yingjing City was now in a state of anxiety and chaos. With no one paying him any mind, it was the perfect time for him to enter seclusion and advance his cultivation.

In the spacious meditation chamber, daylight streamed in from several high, square-paned windows. Whale oil lamps were also lit, keeping the room from feeling dim.

Fu Juemin found a comfortable position on the soft couch in the center of the chamber and sat down, then opened his character panel.

From his trip to the Earth Palace, his rewards were seven Skill Points and three new Talents.

The Talents were one white and two blue: [Enchanting Heart], [Lifting Power], and [Iron Armor].

Unexpectedly, of the three new Talents, [Lifting Power]—obtained from the Fourth Grade Red-faced Yellow Ape—was the highest quality. The intensity of its blue hue surpassed that of [Gui Cang] and [Iron Armor], was on par with [Shadow Control], and was second only to [Celestial Star], which was so blue it was beginning to show a tinge of red!

Fu Juemin decided to test it. He activated [Lifting Power], and a series of sharp CRACKS echoed from his body.

The muscles in his arms seemed to swell and tighten slightly, but the overall change wasn’t dramatic.

But when Fu Juemin exerted his strength, a miraculous effect immediately became apparent.

"Tsk..."

Fu Juemin made a grasping motion with his hand. Wisps of visible ripples appeared at his fingertips, and in that instant, a peculiar sensation arose within him—’It feels like I’ve just grabbed hold of the empty void before me!’

The feeling was marvelous, as if two invisible "handles" had appeared in the air. A ceaseless torrent of intangible power surged into his body from his surroundings, generating strength from nothing!

There is an old saying, "to curse the heavens for not having a handle, and the earth for not having a ring," used to describe a person of divine might and valor, so strong they could move the world if only they had a place to grip.

Fu Juemin, however, now felt as if the heavens and earth *did* have points he could grip to exert his force. No wonder that Red-faced Yellow Ape had been able to rip a huge chunk of rock from the ground with its bare hands.

’Normally, strength is generated by Qi Blood, coordinated through muscles and bones... The power comes from within my own body, so its upper limit is determined by my physical and Qi Blood strength...’

As Fu Juemin slowly activated [Lifting Power], he could clearly perceive the range of air he could "grip" with his hands expanding, and the power surging into his body from the outside continued to increase.

’The ’power’ of [Lifting Power], however, comes from an external source.’

’To put it bluntly, this is also a way of borrowing the Power of Heaven and Earth...’

’The way of the Martial Artist and the way of the Demon Fiend... different paths leading to the same destination.’

Fu Juemin deactivated the Talent, a new understanding blooming in his mind. He felt as if he was one step closer to breaking through the final barrier to his next realm.

[Lifting Power] was an excellent Talent, a rare combat-oriented one. Fu Juemin considered integrating it into his Demon Body.

’Only the Demon Body could withstand the immense backlash from unleashing this Power of Heaven and Earth, and only then could its might be maximized.’

’If I tried to use it in my human form, one slight slip in control could lead directly to my body bursting...’