Chapter 281 - 141: True Gang Realm (Part 2)

’Just a little more, and I’ll be able to step into the True Gang Realm.’

He looked toward the final nine steps.

Without the slightest hesitation, he started walking again.

Ninety-one, ninety-two... ninety-eight.

By now, the pressure was terrifyingly immense. Each step felt like he was carrying a small mountain forward.

Invisible Wind Blades and earth spikes began to materialize, launching sneak attacks, but they were all easily blocked by his perfected Mixed Element Gang Body.

Finally, he stood on the ninety-ninth step.

The expected surge of energy never came.

Ahead, gray mist churned, and the path was abruptly cut off!

Before the Broken Cliff, there was only a void.

Just as Liang Cheng frowned, the mist ahead began to churn violently, and a figure slowly condensed into view.

The figure was blurry at first, but it quickly solidified.

A Puppet!

And it was at the Middle Stage of the True Gang Realm!

At the same time, a cold stream of information pierced Liang Cheng’s mind:

[Trial of the 100th Step: Combat Puppet.]

[Defeat the guardian Combat Puppet to obtain its core energy and proceed to the next layer.]

[Failure results in elimination.]

The message was simple and brutal.

There was no retreat, only victory!

A red light flashed in the Combat Puppet’s eyes as it locked onto Liang Cheng. With a tremor of the Golden Sword in its hand, an incredibly condensed golden Sword Aura tore through the mist, arriving in an instant!

Its speed far surpassed that of an ordinary True Gang Realm expert!

Liang Cheng’s pupils constricted.

"A fine attack!"

With a low shout, he neither dodged nor evaded as his Zhenxian Saber shot from its sheath!

He poured his True Essence into the blade, causing it to hum. An azure Saber Aura surged forth as he slashed head-on at the golden Sword Aura!

CLANG—!!!

The deafening clash of metal rang throughout the gray, misty space.

The shockwave exploded outward, clearing a circle in the surrounding mist.

Liang Cheng staggered but didn’t retreat a single step, holding his ground. The Combat Puppet, on the other hand, stumbled back three paces.

Liang Cheng had the upper hand in their initial clash.

However, the Combat Puppet wasn’t a creature of flesh and blood and was fundamentally unharmed.

Knocked back by Liang Cheng’s strike, the emotionless Combat Puppet immediately closed the distance again. Its Golden Scale Sword became a sky full of golden phantoms, raining down like a torrential storm to envelop Liang Cheng’s vital points.

"Mountain-Breaking Saber—Sea-Breaking!"

Liang Cheng’s Saber Momentum changed. He held back slightly, primarily to test the waters, but the light from his blade still crashed down like heavy waves. For a time, the flashes of saber and sword interwove, and the air rang with the unceasing detonation of Qi Force.

Thirty exchanges passed in the blink of an eye.

A sharp glint flashed in Liang Cheng’s eyes, and the aura he had been holding back suddenly erupted!

His Broken Wave True Essence fully merged with the power of his perfected Mixed Element Gang Body, and the Zhenxian Saber let out a long, clear cry.

Wandering Dragon Step!

His figure seemed to become a twisting dragon’s shadow, instantly escaping the enveloping Sword Net and reappearing in the Combat Puppet’s blind spot to its left.

"Mountain-Breaking Saber!"

The saber’s light, like a bolt of silk, carried the unique surging and tearing sensation of the Broken Wave Technique as it viciously hacked at the joint of the Combat Puppet’s right arm!

The Combat Puppet reacted instantly, swinging its sword back to block.

But the power and speed of this slash from Liang Cheng far surpassed his previous attacks!

CLANG!

The blades met again. The Golden Scale Sword was sent flying high, leaving the Combat Puppet wide open!

"Break!"

Liang Cheng formed a sword with the fingers of his left hand.

Profound Yin Sword Technique—Bone Penetration!

A beam of azure True Essence, condensed to its utmost limit, shot out like a viper’s tongue, precisely striking the Combat Puppet’s chest where a fist-sized golden core of light was instantly hit.

PFFT!

The Combat Puppet’s body convulsed, and its movements abruptly froze.

The red light in its eyes flickered erratically before extinguishing completely.

It remained in its blocking posture for a moment, then with a soft POP, it disintegrated into a cloud of golden specks of light and vanished into the mist.

All that remained was a slowly rotating, pale gold Energy Core the size of a pigeon’s egg, which emitted a majestic energy fluctuation that was incomparably pure and far surpassed the rewards from the previous steps.

Liang Cheng panted lightly as he sheathed his saber.

The message in his mind updated accordingly:

[Core Trial for the First Layer: Passed.]

[You may absorb the Combat Puppet’s core. Upon absorption, you will be teleported to the Second Layer.]

Without hesitation, Liang Cheng reached out and grasped the pale gold core.

It felt warm in his hand, yet it was as heavy as lead.

He could feel that the energy contained within was enough to push his Cultivation, which was already at a critical point, through its final transformation!

"Now is the time!"

He sat down cross-legged, placed the core in the center of his palm, and began circulating both the Broken Wave Technique and his Crossing the Sea True Intent to their absolute limits.

BOOM—!

A torrent of energy, purer and more immense than any before, surged through his limbs and into his very bones!

Within his Dantian, nine True Essence Light Groups, already swollen to their limits, began their final transformation, compressed and catalyzed by this immense external force!

They spun wildly, collapsing inward, becoming incredibly compressed and refined.

CRACK...

A faint sound, like a cracking eggshell, rose from the depths of his Dantian.

From the core of the first True Essence Light Group, a speck of brilliant golden light that had long been gestating suddenly erupted. A wisp of blue Gang Qi, so condensed it felt tangible, was born from within the cluster of light, like the rising sun at dawn.

The moment it appeared, it radiated a density far exceeding True Essence. It began to circulate through his Meridians on its own, and wherever it passed, the remaining True Essence was assimilated and refined, transforming into new blue Gang Qi.

Then came the second, the third...

One after another, all nine True Essence Light Groups burst from their cocoons!

A massive amount of blue Gang Qi surged forth, like nine awakened Golden Dragons, roaring and rampaging through his wide, resilient Meridians before finally converging in his Dantian.

Nine Gang Qi Seeds, like nine stars, hovered within his Dantian.

The distinct sensation of a leap in his level of existence washed over him.

Liang Cheng’s five senses were magnified, and his sensitivity to the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi sharpened severalfold. More wondrously, the sensation of his lifespan increasing washed over him like a warm current, nourishing his Divine Soul.

A lifespan of two hundred years! His future on the Martial Dao was bright!

[Broken Wave Technique, Fourth Layer: Beginner Level (1/10000)]

He had reached the True Gang Realm!

However, before he could fully savor this radical, bone-deep transformation, the energy in the Combat Puppet core was depleted, and it crumbled to dust in his hand.