The Eternal Heart

This was an incomparably pleasant surprise to Chen Yu. He hastily accepted Le Feng's Constituent Grass.

Of course, he wasn't that stupid. The Constituent Grass Le Feng gave him for free was actually considered to be "hush money".

Therefore, it would be difficult for others to dig out the contents of the [Towering Cloud Step] from Chen Yu's end if they wanted to do so.

"Don't worry, Young Martial Brother! I'm preparing to charge into the inner sect as well. How could I do such foolish things?" Chen Yu guaranteed his silence.

Charge into the inner sect?

Le Feng was stunned. This Chen Yu was merely at the initial stages of the Connective Meridian stage, yet he has absurd thoughts of charging into the inner sect? Isn't this ambition a bit too high?

"Then I offer my best wishes to Martial Brother Chen in achieving instant success."

Le Feng naturally wouldn't strike Chen Yu down with his words. He didn't say anything more as he turned around and left.

Chen Yu held the Constituent Grass in his hands, yet he was somewhat excited in his heart as he stood there on the spot.

He had finally gathered all of the ingredients for the second prescription!

…

On that day, Chen Yu took out the Barbaric Cow Marrow, the Constituent Grass, as well as the other ingredients when he returned to his residence and concocted the second kind of Body Tempering Medicinal Liquid.

Even if this second prescription was still considered to be on the low end in the [Bronze Statue Technique], it was a grade higher than the previous "commoner's prescription" since he used some "extraordinary resources" in terms of precious spiritual materials.

Gurgle, gurgle

Soon, air bubbles and steam surged from the barrel of crimson medicinal liquid. The concoction was finally complete.

Plop!

Chen Yu entered the medicine barrel in one step and crouched down in it.

In a split second, a scorching numbness and stabbing pain seeped into the surface layer of his skin, even delving into an even deeper layer where his muscles were bit by bit.

Chen Yu circulated the [Bronze Statue Technique] in a hurry.

The efficacy of this second prescription was much better than he anticipated.

Chi, chi, chi~

A strange sound surfaced when Chen Yu's skin came in contact with the medicinal liquid. The spiritual energy in the prescription was currently blending into his body.

Chen Yu once again experienced the unrestrained feeling of the [Bronze Statue Technique] progressing at an incredible rate.

His [Bronze Statue Technique] was originally capped at the peak Bronze Skin level, but clear progress was starting to appear again right now.

Bathump, bathump! Bathump, bathump!

All of a sudden, there was a powerful thumping coming from Chen Yu's heart. There was an abrupt increase in speed, as well as a sense of urgency hidden in it.

"What's going on?!"

Chen Yu felt a formless force of attraction in the midst of his pulsating heart.

This force of attraction wasn't directed at any other object, nor was it directed at the Inner Breath that existed within his body.

Rumble! Rumble!

A stream of continuous air bubbles surfaced in the medicinal barrel. Formless spiritual medicinal power formed what seemed to be a fine spiritual snake without a fraction of dispersion between them. It then assimilated into Chen Yu's flesh in what seemed to be an instant.

This was?

Chen Yu was taken aback. He felt that the efficacy of the Body Tempering Medicinal Liquid had almost doubled all of a sudden.

No matter how stupid he was, he knew that this phenomenon had something to do with the crystal heart that fused with his body.

"I can't waste it!"

Chen Yu took a deep breath and circulated the [Bronze Statue Technique] to its limits.

He would absorb as much medicinal power as it came to him.

Womp!

A deep bronze layer appeared on the skin covering Chen Yu's entire body as a layer of light red glow surfaced as well.

In that instant, he seemed to have turned into a simple and unadorned Bronze Statue. There was a vaguely grave air around him that made deities and ghosts withdraw.

What Chen Yu didn't know was that the human body couldn't absorb 100% of the efficacy of the world's resources and treasures during the process of absorption. Most of the spiritual medicinal power would undoubtedly be lost.

This touched upon the human body's efficacy in absorbing them.

Originally, it was considered pretty good if the average person could absorb 40% of the medicinal power out of a barrel of medicinal liquid.

But at this moment, under the mysterious heart's formless force of attraction, Chen Yu almost absorbed 100% of the medicine's efficacy. When it was used on his body that was "gifted in physical technique", the effect produced fundamental changes on him.

Putting a person with an ordinary constitution in his shoes, they might become demonic and bleed from their seven orifices if they absorbed the medicinal power so frantically.

However, Chen Yu's body wasn't in the category of a normal human anymore.

Gurgle, gurgle, whoosh~

Miniature lines of muscle faintly outlined the surface of his deep-bronze like muscles as he absorbed with such fervency.

From the looks of it, Chen Yu's muscles weren't that much bigger than before. However, his muscles currently had the aesthetics of a three-dimensional sculpture, emitting a masculine charm.

After two hours, he finally finished absorbing a barrel of Body Tempering Medicinal Liquid.

Chen Yu felt that he was almost half a step away from stepping into the "Bronze Muscle" level in his [Bronze Statue Technique].

"This result… is really too good!"

Chen Yu was pleased beyond his expectations.

However, he had collected bits and pieces of the ingredients for this prescription with much difficulty. Unfortunately, he could only compound two lots of Body Tempering Medicinal Liquid.

He used it one today already and was only left with one more usage.

In order to achieve the most optimal medicinal efficacy, Chen Yu didn't use the remaining portion immediately.

After that, he forged and hammered his body with the "Bronze Statue Body Tempering Technique" the whole day and extracted as much as possible out of one portion's worth of medicinal efficacy.

The next day, Chen Yu started using the remaining Body Tempering Medicinal Liquid.

The second time, the medicinal efficacy was slightly weaker, but it still brought about incredible progress in Chen Yu's [Bronze Statue Technique]!

Rumble! Rumble!

Eventually, at a certain moment, the muscles across Chen Yu's entire body formed a perfect contour. His firm and ferocious body was brimming with daunting toughness.

Chen Yu felt an explosive energy resembling a leopard filled his body between him as he inhaled and exhaled.

"Bronze Muscle Physique!"

Chen Yu activated the [Bronze Statue Technique], bronze veins outlining his entire body like a fluid sculpture soon after. Not only was his body solid, but there was also a powerful toughness contained within it as well.

At first glance, Chen Yu was just like a living bronze statue as the veins of the muscles in his body were intermittently visible. The simple and unadorned bronze veins that contoured his body emitted a mysterious and dignified air.

Whoosh!

Chen Yu unleashed a punch, giving rise to whipping and whistling wind, as well as a heavy gale. It was as though that punch didn't come from a human, but rather, a gigantic ape from the ancient times.

"A sharp increase in strength!"

Chen Yu sensed his astonishing progress with just a single punch.

Since his previous "Bronze Skin" level corresponded to the Body Tempering stage, the increase in strength wasn't considered to be too much. At most, it mainly increased his defenses.

But the current "Bronze Muscle" level corresponded to the Connective Meridian stage, so it tempered and strengthened the muscles at a deeper level. In other words, this caused a sharp increase in his strength!

Gurgle, gurgle!

There was still half a portion's worth of medicinal power left in the medicinal barrel. Chen Yu suppressed his excitement and continued absorbing. He couldn't let the medicinal efficacy go to waste!

He used the remaining medicinal power to strengthen his Bronze Muscle Physique a step further.

Early in the morning the next day.

Chen Yu woke up early with a completely reddened face.

His [Bronze Skin Technique] progressed all the more after it went through a process of strengthening yesterday.

Chen Yu couldn't make a good estimate as to how much his strength had increased.

A conservative estimate would be that the strength of his body had increased by more than half. What was more important though was that the toughness of his body had increased, therefore his explosive power and resistance against attacks had increased substantially as well.

"It shouldn't be difficult for me to be in the outer sect's top five with my current strength," Chen Yu surmised.

One had to know that Huang Yuan, who was ranked seventh in the outer sect, was already at the level of the Great Fiend Chu Lifeng.

On the other hand, the top five's strength was only Chu Feng's tentative estimation against himself.

He would have to verify the definite circumstances through real combat.

Other than that, after his constitution had strengthened substantially, Chen Yu clearly felt that there was a significant increase in the efficiency of his cultivation in the "Fiendish Cloud Mental Technique" as well.

This validated his conjecture!

Chen Yu's cultivation train of thought was to upgrade the [Bronze Statue Technique], which was the easiest to upgrade, as quickly as he could.

There were two benefits in doing so.

First, strengthening the defenses of his physique brought about an increase in strength.

In the sect world, one had the ability to obtain even more resources and influence when they were stronger.

Secondly, he could boost his cultivation in mental techniques and Inner Breath through improving the basic essence of his body.

To some sort of degree, the transformation and the improvement of one's physique was considered to be a covert improvement in cultivation aptitude.

The fact of the matter proved that Chen Yu's train of thought was feasible.

"Younger Martial Brother Chen, are you there?"

The gentle voice of a young lady could be heard coming from outside the house.

Creak!

Chen Yu opened the door and saw the delicate and pretty face of a young lady. It was Tong Yuling.

"Elder Martial Sister Tong."

Chen Yu smiled faintly because he understood the purpose behind the other party coming here.

With regards to how his [Bronze Statue Technique] could ascend so quickly, he had Tong Yuling to thank for paying him with the Barbaric Cow Marrow in advance.

"M-martial Brother Chen?"

When Tong Yuling saw Chen Yu, she was stunned for a moment as a hint of shine and luster flashed in her eyes.

The physique and muscles contouring the tall young man in her field of sight had the fluid aestheticism of a sculpture and a masculine charm filled to the brim.

So much so that...

In that instant, a smear of redness appeared on the face of the delicate and pretty young lady in front of him.

"Younger Martial Brother changed a lot. It seemed like you surged in power. Elder Martial Sister is even more confident in this operation now."

Tong Yuling turned her expression into that of a smiling one.

The two of them walked side by side as they discussed the details of the Murder List.

"Relax, Elder Martial Sister. I've already gotten your reward, so I will definitely give it my all in killing the 'Bald Bloody Hand' this time!"

Chen Yu was very confident.

...

Several days later.

A man and a woman dressed in green garments walked over to a shabby and silent villa to the north of the state of Chu neither in a hurry nor at a relaxed speed.

"Based on the information I got, that Bald Bloody Hand was recently nearby. I have good news, as well as bad news."

Tong Yuling looked calm.

"What's the bad news?" asked Chen Yu.

"The bad news is that the Bald Bloody Hand gathered his four subordinates, the 'Four Blood Children' together. These Four Blood Children are at the Connective Meridian stage, and are experts in working together, so they have many tricks."

Tong Yuling had a serious look on her face.

"Oh? What's the good news then?"

Chen Yu's expression didn't change. On the contrary, he became more interested. If the opponent was too weak, he would feel disappointed instead.

"The good news is that 'Bald Bloody Hand' obtained a few kinds of precious spiritual material, and is currently cultivating painstakingly behind closed doors. It's extremely easy to locate the point where he stopped over."

Being easy to locate was good news.

"That is indeed good news."

Chen Yu smiled. He wasn't afraid that the opponent was powerful now, but rather he was afraid that it would be difficult to locate their opponent, resulting in a huge waste of time.

After an hour, Chen Yu and Tong Yuling arrived before a rather large-scaled house in the villa.

The duo exchanged a glance and slowly walked into the house.

"Hahaha…. here comes another idiot dropping in to die!"

A peal of strange laughter could be heard coming from the courtyard.

Thump! Thump! Thump...

In the blink of an eye, four people in bloody robes flew out and formed a horizontal line.

The four bloody robed people comprised of three men and one woman. Every single one of them had a bloody mole in the space between their eyebrows as evil and cold Inner Breath bubbled around their bodies.

Based on their Inner Breath, Chen Yu determined that the three men were at the middle Connective Meridian stage whereas that bloody robed woman was actually at the late Connective Meridian stage.

"Shoot! The 'Four Blood Children' have higher cultivations than reported. Also, they aren't baffled by our appearance in the slightest."

Tong Yuling smelled that something was fishy.

Her many years of experience told her that she absolutely couldn't kill the target in this kind of situation since they even had to prepare to retreat.

"Cheche, it's actually two mischievous children from the sects. I struck it big this time."

A gloomy and husky voice could be heard behind the both of them.

Whoosh!

It was unknown when a bald old man in bloody robes appeared behind them.

"Bald Bloody Hand!"

Tong Yuling's expression changed slightly as she cried out that things were bad in her heart.

At this moment, Bald Bloody Hand and Four Blood Children outflanked the two of them.

"Tsk, tsk. Delicate skin with a fresh and pure face. This old man loves to enjoy young ladies like you who are still virgins..."

The Bald Bloody Hand licked his lips as his small narrow eyes wantonly violated Tong Yuling's beautiful figure in his mind, as well as her delicate and pretty face. It was as though he was very pleased with the prey that arrived this time.