High Martial Arts: Grinding for the Supreme Talent

Chapter 256: Chapter 256: Mental Realm Secret Manual

His Qi and Blood Value had increased by 5.4. Lin Qi subconsciously began to calculate.

At his usual Cultivation speed, it would have taken him at least half a month to make this much progress.

In the Third Realm of Skin Refining, the further one progressed, the more Source Energy was needed to raise one’s Qi and Blood Value.

The pace of his improvement was bound to slow down, but with better resources, he could maintain his rapid advancement—or even accelerate it.

And the Molting Potion from Dean Xue had helped speed up this process.

’As expected of a Potion worth ten million a bottle.’

Lin Qi sighed in admiration. It was expensive for a reason. In any case, there was no way he could afford to buy such a Potion right now.

...

「A few minutes later, in a spacious bathroom inside the Gravity Ball building.」

SHHHHHHH!

Lin Qi let the hot water wash over his body, scrubbing his skin to get rid of the sweat and grime.

”Hm?”

Something felt off to the touch. He looked down and saw that the skin on his arm had just split open.

His skin had become loose and wrinkled. With a light pinch, he tore off a large piece of skin tissue. It felt like a snakeskin in his hand.

He continued to peel, and soon he had sloughed off all the old skin from his entire body.

Looking at the human skin in his hands, Lin Qi felt a strange sensation. It was just like molting.

Just as the name Molting Potion suggested, it had made him molt.

He touched the skin on his arm. After shedding the old layer, his new skin was smoother, more elastic, and also much tougher.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror, completely refreshed and brimming with immense Life Force.

After the Refinement, his skin was now tougher than cowhide. An Ordinary person swinging a blade at him might not even leave a scratch.

This was the effect of his current Skin Refining.

Returning to his villa that evening, Lin Qi felt an intense hunger and only stopped after eating two Level 4 Nutritional Meals.

He went back to the Martial Arts Room and began practicing his Spear Technique.

’My Spear Technique has not only broken through to Tier Three, but I’ve also achieved Perfection in the *Mountain Splitting Spear Technique*. I’ve also mastered the essence of the *Meteor Spear Technique* and the *Vajra Spear Technique*. Continuing to practice them won’t lead to any significant improvement.’

As Lin Qi practiced his Spear Technique, he thought of Han Zhen. ’His Saber Technique Realm is higher than mine, and the Saber Technique Secret Manual he cultivates is even a Silver Level one. If I want to surpass him, I’ll need to cultivate a new Spear Technique Secret Manual—a Silver Secret Manual.’

...

「The next day, in a Martial Arts Room on the top floor of Cangjing Building at the Azure Sky Sixth Institute.」

After class ended, Lin Qi said goodbye to Jiangtao and the others, and they all went to find their respective teachers for Cultivation.

Lin Qi himself took his backpack and rode the elevator to a spacious Martial Arts Room on the top floor.

SWOOSH~ SWOOSH~

As soon as he entered, he saw three familiar figures practicing their Spear Technique: his senior brother, Li Qing; his senior sister, Wang Zixuan; and his teacher, Mu Hong, who had a ramrod-straight posture and wore black martial arts attire no matter the season.

”Well, well, if it isn’t our national freshmen competition champion, the one who defeated the genius from the Tenth Institute, Lin Qi?”

Li Qing, who had a scholarly air about him, teased.

”Junior Brother, congratulations on winning the championship. All our classmates in our year are constantly asking me about you now,” Wang Zixuan added with a smile.

Lin Qi shook his head. ”You’re exaggerating. I still have a long way to go.”

”Teacher, you’re back?” he asked, looking at Mu Hong.

”Lin Qi, congratulations on your victory!”

”I watched your final match against Han Zhen. Your progress is even faster than we imagined.”

”I know you need some guidance.”

Lin Qi nodded. ”I’ve hit a bit of a bottleneck. I think I need to cultivate a new Spear Technique Secret Manual to continue improving my Spear Technique Realm.”

Mu Hong took a Training Lance from a nearby weapon case.

”When I saw you break through to Tier Three Spear Technique, I knew you would need my guidance.”

”That’s one of the reasons I came back.”

Beside them, Li Qing shook his head. ”Junior Brother is improving too quickly. I feel like he’s going to surpass me soon.”

”With my current Spear Technique Realm, I’m almost too embarrassed to give him pointers anymore.”

Wang Zixuan nodded in agreement. ”I’m not that much stronger than Junior Brother, either. I wouldn’t dare to casually guide him. He really needs your instruction, Teacher.”

Mu Hong nodded after hearing this. He lifted the Training Lance with one hand, holding it parallel to his shoulder in a straight line, and said:

”Tier Three Spear Technique is called Perfection. It means perfectly controlling the force generated by every muscle in your body.”

”If our will is the commander, the general, then every muscle is a soldier.”

”When the general gives an order, all the soldiers must move in unison, like a precision instrument.”

”With a single thought, all the muscles in your body exert force, controlling the flow of Power and condensing it into the unique Power of a Secret Manual before releasing it.”

”But what is the path forward after breaking through Tier Three?”

Lin Qi shook his head. He didn’t know. He only knew he had to keep controlling his Power, but he had no clue about the path beyond Tier Three Spear Technique or how to break through to Tier Four Spear Technique.

Mu Hong gripped the Long Spear and began to execute thrusts. Each movement was plain and unremarkable, yet Lin Qi felt that Mu Hong had suddenly merged with the spear, becoming one and the same, an indivisible whole.

There was even an intangible force surrounding the spear’s movements. It wasn’t Power, but a kind of natural aura.

Mu Hong continued, ”For Tier Three Spear Technique, you need to continue to tap into your body’s potential and control even more muscles.”

”Breaking through to Tier Three means you can control every muscle in your body, but that really just refers to the major muscle groups. Beyond those, there are also the minor muscle groups.”

”Minor muscle groups?”

”Junior Brother, you must have felt it during the First Realm muscle Refinement, right? When your Qi and Blood Value reached 9.99, tempering the minor muscle groups was an extremely troublesome task,” Li Qing interjected from the side.

Lin Qi nodded in understanding.

Mu Hong continued:

”You need to let your will completely merge with your body and gain control over all the minor muscle groups.”

”During this process, your control over your Power must also become more precise and refined.”

”Being able to control all your Power doesn’t mean your control is precise.”

”In the process of controlling and releasing Power, more subtle variations will appear, manifesting as precise control over every single trace of Power.”

Lin Qi seemed to have an epiphany. During his fight with Han Zhen, he had felt that his opponent’s control over Power was far more exquisite.

It wasn’t crude like his own, which he just unleashed all at once.

Mu Hong swung the Long Spear, and the aura around him grew stronger:

”Lin Qi, as your mastery of the Spear Technique improves, and as you gain deeper control over your muscles and Power, you will gradually achieve a deep fusion with your Spear Technique.”

”You will be in the spear, and the spear will be in you, reaching a state of oneness—the true realm of Man and Spear as One.”

”Once you have merged, the connection between you and your Spear Technique will strengthen. Your will’s perception of the natural world will also be greatly enhanced, allowing you to comprehend a unique Mental Realm.”

”That is when you will break through to Tier Four Spear Technique, the Mental Realm.”

Mu Hong retracted his spear, and the aura around him slowly dissipated.

”The Mental Realm...”

Lin Qi exhaled and asked:

”Teacher, was that aura around you just now the Mental Realm?”

Mu Hong nodded. ”The Mental Realm is formless and intangible, yet it can be clearly perceived by us Martial Artists. It is an Extraordinary power that can be based on anything—the natural world, a Calamity Beast...”

”This is the path you must now walk: improve your mastery of the Spear Technique, resonate with it, and comprehend your own unique Mental Realm!”

...