Forge a path to success

He rubbed his fingers together, creating a burst of energy that seemed to break through his body. This energy was originally formless and colorless, but under Ji Qiufeng's will, it condensed and solidified into a fiery red gauntlet.

Ji Qiufeng beckoned with his finger, and a long sword fell to the ground. Chu Hengkong immediately drew his sword and slashed with all his might. The blade shattered the moment it touched the gauntlet, and the red color on the gauntlet, as intense as raging fire, emitted a crimson energy blast!

"The Secret Technique of the Zhengxuan Palace: Zhengxuan Qi Armor".

He casually picked up a piece of scrap iron and severed his right arm. In less than a moment, the muscles and bones in the wound rapidly regenerated, growing a completely new arm. His spirit transformed into a sleeve that spliced ​​with his original clothing, and the new right arm was as agile as the original.

"The secret technique of Yueque Palace: Immortality and Indestructibility."

Ji Qiufeng snapped his fingers one last time, a wisp of spirit flickering at his fingertips like a transparent candle flame. He blew out the flame of spirit and smiled, “There is one more secret technique from Chenjun Palace, which is a bit more difficult. If you have time after learning the first two, I will pass it on to you. Let me make it clear beforehand, although these three secret techniques are not as dangerous as One Qi for a Thousand Autumns, they are by no means less difficult to learn.”

Chu Hengkong rubbed his hands together, eager to try: "Can I learn more?"

"The key to a technique is quality, not quantity. Now that you have become Ganggu, the characteristics of this stage are a strong physique, efficient recovery, and the 'Qi-Breaking Body' technique unique to us martial arts practitioners. These three secret techniques correspond to the three directions you should study in depth now. If you can master them, you can create the other minor techniques yourself. Why bother spending time learning them?"

Ji Qiufeng flicked his fan, which transformed into the crimson halberd "Lifefire," and pointed the blade at Chu Hengkong's forehead.

"The Divine Tree's plea for help means time is running out. This dream space can accelerate time thirty times. In reality, I can only give you two days at most." His demeanor turned cold and stern. "Two days, two months, no matter how much you learn, you must set off then. Jie Anqisu will prepare the rest of your equipment. Are you ready?"

"One last question, are there any side effects?"

"Dying too many times might cause you to dream," Ji Qiufeng said casually. "Let's begin."

The next instant, the halberd pierced Chu Hengkong's forehead. His once magnificent head exploded like a watermelon, and he watched from a third-person perspective as his brains splattered all over the ground, hearing the city lord's gleeful voice:

"Let's begin cultivating the Immortal and Indestructible Technique..."

During my trip, I heard that not updating for seven consecutive days would cause investments to fail, which made me very anxious. So I rushed to write a chapter to let everyone know that the author is still alive and kicking and has not disappeared.

This chapter was written at the Qingshui Stage and was originally supposed to be 23,000 words long. However, considering the inconvenience of typing on the poster, it was changed to 3,000 words, which also satisfies everyone's requests for a quick draft.

The next update will still be on the 9th. Please be aware.

Chapter 104 Surname

From a cultivator's own subjective perspective, the most difficult skill to cultivate is the Immortal and Indestructible Technique. Even the most difficult Qi Refining Technique still requires a breath of life, but the cultivation process of this self-healing technique is all about fighting to the death. Learn the basics of martial arts sentence by sentence, and one good head after another explodes.

This feeling was really not good. Chu Hengkong experienced it thousands of times before he finally grasped the knack of self-healing. After that, he was healing himself while creating the Qi Armor. After that, he was exploring the third wonderful method in actual combat.

But his body and mind were out of sync. No matter how many deaths or how much he learned in his dreams, his body remained asleep in reality. So he gradually began to multitask, focusing on the intense training ground on one hand and on scenes from an unknown time on the other. His movements were meticulous, but he knew he was tired. Because he began to think about things he wouldn't normally consider: a few casual conversations, some faint memories…

For example, what your surname is.

·

Chu Hengkong's surname is Chu, because Old Master Chu's surname is Chu.

There were many martial arts schools around the orphanage, including Hung Kuen, Chuojiao, Tai Chi, and Bagua. When he was 5 years old, he sneaked out to learn how to fight, and within six months he had mastered all the martial arts in the area. When he was 6, he watched a few movies and began to enthusiastically challenge the schools.

This wasn't as interesting as it's portrayed in the movies. The masters and instructors were basically knocked down with a few punches, and the few so-called masters couldn't last more than three minutes; they were all just amateurs. In about half a year, he had defeated seven of the city's eleven districts. When only the four districts remained, all the masters in the city used their influence to invite Old Master Chu to come out.

Grandpa Chu was a master of Bajiquan, a man of upright character and fierce spirit. A punch or kick wouldn't even leave him unmoved, while a backhand elbow strike to the chest would embed him in the red brick wall for a good while. Until he was seven years old, he had never beaten Grandpa Chu, enduring beatings for half a year before finally submitting.

The day he was convinced was the first time he spoke to the old man, and the first time the old man spoke to him.

"What is your name."

"It has no name. The orphanage gave it one, but we didn't want to use it, so we threw it away."

"Oh."

"Would you like to take my surname, Cheng?"

The old man didn't say anything. He then made a witty remark.

"Master."

“You can take my surname,” the old man told him, “but you’re not allowed to have a master when you learn martial arts. You can have a carpenter master, a computer master, or any master you want to learn. But not martial arts.”

"Okay." He agreed without hesitation. The old man laughed for the first time and scolded him for being clueless.

From that day on, his name was Chu Hengkong.

In the following months, he genuinely learned a few things from the old man. He could tell that the old man didn't really want to teach him. He could also tell that the old man genuinely wanted to impart all his knowledge. The old man told him that he should read more books, that it was useful, and practice martial arts less, that it was useless. But the old man himself usually read annotated Buddhist scriptures and a well-worn copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," and his handwriting was terrible. Such a person's words carried little weight.

From the age of nine, his grandfather stopped teaching him much and instead took him traveling all over the country, introducing him to all sorts of strange old men and middle-aged people. That was the first time Chu Hengkong learned what it meant to experience the myriad aspects of life. Some old men lived in large villas, wealthy and powerful; some middle-aged men worked in office buildings, their faces full of worry; and many more lived in small streets and villages, in earthen houses with brick walls, impoverished and destitute. But all of them reacted the same way when they saw him: amazed, exclaiming, clapping and cheering, then lowering their eyes, sighing, and remaining silent for a long time.

No one wanted to teach a single word; everyone was giving it their all. A few old men were truly skilled; one wanted to become their apprentice, but the old man and the others refused. After much questioning, they couldn't get a single answer out of him, except for one sentence.

Born at the wrong time.

After this trip, the old man said he didn't need to learn anything else and could figure it out on his own. By then, the internet was basically widespread, so he found foreign martial arts books to read and practiced on his own without encountering any obstacles.

The old man was getting on in years and had a few minor ailments, but nothing serious. He was sturdy and full of energy. On his 11th birthday, the old man had his hands clasped with him.

He absolutely refused to fight. He knew that if he fought again this time, the old man wouldn't be able to beat him.

That night, Old Master Chu displayed the fiercest face he could ever remember, the tip of his training spear grazing his neck and embedding itself in the wall. Fight! Why wouldn't you fight?! What's the point of training your whole life if you don't fight?!

He beat the old man for the first time. He won without thinking, and the old man got injured. The old man said that thinking was nonsense; if you can't clearly distinguish between winning and losing, it's like playing for nothing.

The old man lay on his hospital bed, laughing heartily, feeling incredibly relieved. Then, after he finished laughing, tears streamed down his face. He was at a loss.

"I understand now! I've learned it! But what's the use of that? What happens after that? What's the point then?"

"We'll be able to win even more in the future," he said.

"Winning a lot, will it bring you fame and fortune? Can you beat me? Can you beat a pistol? Can you beat a cannon?!" The old man sobbed, "Kong, what will you do in the future? Will you go to the streets and become a beat cop? Will you go to make movies and become an actor?! All these years of studying, the best years of your life! All wasted! It's a sin, I've ruined you!"

He listened quietly, and after the old man finished crying, he said, "I can win."

He was serious. After hearing this, the old man stopped crying.

After the fight, the old man recuperated for two months, during which time he received no shortage of complaints from the Chu family. He could understand the respect and love that his descendants had for their elder, but he also sensed a faint impatience beneath their worry, like water droplets flowing silently beneath the ice, but always present.

One day after he was discharged from the hospital, the old man called him over alone.

"Kong, do you know when you're going to die?"

"I'll live to be a hundred. I have no problem living to be a hundred."

"You're just guessing." The old man tapped his forehead. "You're not quite there yet when it comes to cultivating your mind. Once you've cultivated your mind, you'll open your third eye, gain the ability to see past lives, and be able to know exactly when your life will end."

"Then you know."

“I know,” the old man said. “After a year, my heart, lungs and kidneys will not be able to function well. I won’t be able to eat much. I will have to spend three months of the year in the hospital. My children will come back from time to time.”

In another two years, I slept more and woke up less, spending almost half the time in bed, going back and forth between home and the hospital. Whenever the children had time, they would rush home.

Two more years passed, and I was bedridden, in a daze, just like my children, bound tightly to this bed. Whether lucid or delirious, we were all waiting, waiting for the day we could close our eyes, die peacefully, and all would be well.

He could imagine it, could picture the old man's dim eyes on the bed, and the weary heart of the younger generation rushing back and forth, so he felt an indescribable sadness. But the old man showed no sign of distress; his eyes shone like those of a young man.

“Kong, remember this: a man cannot live a pathetic life.” He smiled mysteriously. “I’ll teach you one last trick. It’s better to die a good death than to live a miserable life.”

Suddenly, he remembered a newspaper report about some elderly people living alone who, not wanting to trouble their children, would take sleeping pills and leave. He wanted to say something to dissuade them, but he held back; he knew Old Master Chu wasn't that weak.

Over the next three days, the old man arranged everything at home, wrote a challenge letter by hand, and signed it with his bloodied handprint. His whole family accompanied him when he left, but only Chu Hengkong was allowed to enter. They flew to America, to a pigeonhole-like arena of life and death, with no spectators. The old man, dressed in a Zhongshan suit and carrying a large gun, faced an old Russian man wielding a single dagger, also accompanied by his apprentice.

The old people's eyes revealed naked hatred, and their first move on stage was a merciless killing blow.

Years of grudges between them fueled their desperate fight. In the blink of an eye, their daggers clashed, and their spears pierced through the ground, but the battle wouldn't stop; they were determined to fight to the death. However, the old men's strength quickly waned, and even the strongest killing intent was reduced to a dull knife cutting flesh.

The man's apprentice fainted, and a deep sorrow filled the Russian's eyes, which also brought a blood-red grief to Old Master Chu's face. Their struggle had reached this point, yet the ending was far worse than any they had foreseen.

Suddenly, Chu Hengkong understood, he understood everything. That indescribable emotion made him clap and cheer as much as he could.

He said, "Great skill! The old man has amazing skill!!"

The two old people were shocked, yet relieved, as if they had suddenly let go of all the burdens—both their own and others'. With their last ounce of strength, they collapsed into each other's blood.

Died with a smile.

"—!"

Chu Hengkong sat up abruptly, his eyes still stained with the lingering blood.

He valued sleep and rarely dreamed before. After his transformation, he could control his body, so there was no need for him to enter inefficient short sleep. But this time, he dreamed within a dream, and the dream was about things from a long time ago. Every detail was so real, exactly the same as in his memory.

“Dreams are projections of the spirit. We often say that dreams belong to the dark moon and the ocean, and a small part of them belong to the shadows.” The man handed him a glass of water. “Most of the time, dreams mean the past and misfortunes, and sometimes they are seen as omens of the future. That’s why dragons and the moon always clash in dreams.”

He took the cold water, while Ji Qiufeng, standing beside him, remained expressionless.

"Thank you, Master..." Chu Heng swallowed his words, "Mr. Ji."

Ji Qiufeng didn't take it seriously: "What dream did you have?"

“It wasn’t a nightmare,” he said. “It ended well.”

"Then we need to pay attention to the content of the dream. In my experience, the past is always a harbinger of the future." Ji Qiufeng shook his fan. "Youyou Divination says your trip is not auspicious. Whether it's good or bad depends on your own efforts..."

"I've studied for two more months in my dream, so this one is definitely no problem."

Ji Qiufeng sighed deeply: "Heng Kong, every time you say that, you end up falling really hard..."

"I didn't lose either." Chu Hengkong got up and got out of bed.

He slowly moved his shoulders. The two months of cultivation in his dream had made his spiritual experience far superior to his physical body, making his original body seem somewhat sluggish. However, the immortal machine behind him activated with a thought, and its calculation ability, far exceeding his own, instantly completed the simulation, feeding back all the experience gained from the dream into his physical body.

In Longquan Township, even the most reckless and speed-seeking martial artist would need ten days to a month to recuperate after leaving the Dream Shadow Space. But now, in less than half a minute, Chu Hengkong's body had perfectly adjusted to the state "should be" after two months of cultivation. This was due to the unique adaptability brought to him by the Immortal Mechanical Bone, and it was thanks to this that Ji Qiufeng dared to come up with such an aggressive cultivation plan.

Although his cultivation plan before ascending to the highest level of physical strength was never conservative.

After making the adjustments, Chu Hengkong looked at Ji Qiufeng. The city lord's aura remained unfathomable, like a restrained yet scorching fire. In the past, he couldn't understand the city lord's kung fu at all, but perhaps because he had been thoroughly beaten for two months in his dream, or perhaps because his observation skills had become more meticulous after his transformation into a body of steel bones, he sensed a subtle change.

"Mr. Ji, when will you be promoted?"

"It'll be something for this year," Ji Qiufeng said. "I'm not afraid of being laughed at, but I really want you to wait a while before you set off..."

"Even if you increase your quality by 6, Ji Huaisu and I won't become stronger because of it," Chu Hengkong laughed. "Leave the tree matter to us, and you can focus on leveling up. When Ji Huaisu and I have higher quality, the city won't lack people to carry the heavy load."

Ji Qiufeng watched him leave the temple, thinking that such strong confidence was also a source of strength. Youyou suddenly popped her head out, full of complaints: "You're really ruthless... Huaisu told me she also had a dream, I think we should make some more preparations..."

“They have their own destiny, can you force them to stop?” Ji Qiufeng said nonchalantly. “Go for it! When we first came out of the mountains, we were only at level 3, not much better.”

“I was a point mass 4 at that time!” Youyou emphasized.

"You emerge from the eggshell and become particle 4..."

Chu Heng took the elevator to the 20th-floor command center, where everyone was bustling about. Ji Huaisu was cornered by Qi Su, who was stuffing pieces of equipment into her without explanation, his expression resembling that of adding armor to a robot. Fan De stared blankly at a thing that looked like a sperm sphere, refusing to crawl inside no matter how much Jie An pleaded.

Chu Hengkong's arrival relieved his teammates' immediate crisis. Jie An rushed forward and, without a word, draped a coat over him: "Equipped with the Small Universe Sleeve, space compression technology, and Flowing Bead Drive, all the supplies are inside. This thing has been urgently modified to a particle level of 2 for you. Even if you lose Vande, you can't lose this!"

"Oh, oh, oh, oh." Chu Hengkong nodded repeatedly.

Qi Su followed, shoving a white spear with three holes drilled into his arms, speaking rapidly like a machine gun.

"The engraved white spear has been specially adapted for you, and its rating fluctuates dynamically based on the embedded engraved beads. It's currently at level 2, so just to be safe, use only one! The fate power of the three of you is too high, and it's easy for your relics to break through the limits if they're too strong!"

Chu Hengkong nodded again: "Okay, okay."

"And this..." Qi Su held up a knife, the same style as before, "A knife reforged from a rock blade fragment, a level 2 plain knife with no special effects. Just make do with it when you need a knife."

"This is good," Chu Hengkong said with a smile. "It's practical."

"The boat is about to depart! Get ready to set sail!"

Seeing that the preparations were finally over, Ji Huaisu immediately slipped out of the heavy armor, which was made of cans nested within cans, and went into battle lightly equipped. Fan De followed suit and darted into Chu Hengkong's pocket.

Jie An shook his head helplessly like an old father and shouted at them, "Your lives matter! Keep in touch!"

"If you can't find it, come back quickly. Don't risk your life if you encounter a strong opponent!" Qi Su cupped her little hands into a megaphone.

Ji Huaisu pulled him all the way to the port, only stopping to catch his breath when they arrived.

"If I had stayed for another five minutes, they could have stuffed me into the statue of Yoyu."

"A memorable first trip, that's normal," Vande said listlessly. "How about you? You've been in the Ancient Dragon's Wonderland for two months, are you still feeling energetic?"

Chu Hengkong stared at the gun handle and suddenly said, "Do you think there's any use in me practicing this skill?"

His two closest friends acted as if he were an idiot.

"Ah Kong, wake up!" Ji Huaisu said earnestly. "Without your skills, we would already be fish food! We'd be nothing but squid number one, two, or three, with not even a bone fragment left!"

"It sounds like they can combine to form a real squid."

Chu Hengkong chuckled, pulling his thoughts back from the dream and looking at reality.

"Yes... I'm very happy," he said. "Let's go! It's time to set off!"

They climbed the long staircase to board the ship, leaving Dragon City with the sound of the surging tide. Leaving the Mysterious Realm of Senluo, they set off for Dust Island, outside their homeland, for the first time.

This will be a slightly longer trip than they anticipated. But the young people are full of confidence.

Because we are young, we are brave. We dare to leave our homes and venture forth into the future.