111: Chapter 111 Sudden Enlightenment

Time returns to the fifteenth day of Jiang Hanzhou's secluded cultivation.

Beneath the stone house was not an ordinary Foundation, but a secretly expanded stone chamber.

This stone chamber was buried three zhang underground, built with bluestone, about five zhang square and over two zhang high, with several night-luminescent pearls embedded in the walls, emitting a soft, cold light.

This place was originally a storage cellar dug by the fishery in its early years, later slightly modified by Jiang Hanzhou, who set up simple soundproofing to make it his quiet room for secluded cultivation.

At this moment, in the center of the quiet room.

Jiang Hanzhou sat cross-legged, shirtless, his Qi and blood steaming like mist, with faint reddish-gold streams of light visible moving under his skin, emitting a low roar like a rushing river.

He closed his eyes tightly, his mind completely immersed in the operation of the Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Skill.

This foundational Cultivation Technique, which had accompanied him through all his battles until now, had long been cultivated to the Peak of Major Achievement, just one step away from Perfection.

And he had been taking this "one step" for half a month.

Qi and blood surged in his Meridians, repeatedly impacting the last few secret acupoints and fine-tuning the operation routes of the Cultivation Technique.

Inside his Dantian, that reddish-gold blood core pulsed powerfully like a heart; with every contraction and expansion, it erupted with massive amounts of pure Qi and blood, feeding back into his whole body.

"The Dragon takes form in the sky, the Tiger lies hidden on the ground; Yin and Yang converge, hardness and softness complement each other..."

The general outline of the Cultivation Technique flowed through his heart, and Jiang Hanzhou's understanding of what it contained grew deeper and deeper.

The so-called "Dragon Subduing" was not about taming an external dragon, but about subduing the "Heart Dragon" of inner restlessness and floating Qi and blood, making the Qi and blood like a dragon, yet steady and controllable, able to be released or retracted at will.

The so-called "Tiger Taming" was also not about fighting a fierce tiger, but about subduing the "Body Tiger" of wild growth and unrestrained nature within the muscles and bones, making the muscles and bones like a tiger, yet full of resilience, fierce without losing agility.

For this half-month, he had been constantly adjusting the details of his Qi and blood circulation, polishing away every bit of imperfection.

Until this moment—

"Hum..."

It felt as if some barrier within his body had been quietly broken.

The surging Qi and blood suddenly slowed, then resumed operation along a more mysterious, more perfect and free trajectory.

The trace of "restlessness" that had been hard to detect in his Qi and blood completely disappeared.

In its place was a sense of control that was as natural and harmonious as Tide rise and fall, as if his arms were being commanded by his fingers.

Where the Qi and blood flowed, his muscles and bones resonated, and the sound of Dragons Roar and Tigers Howl faintly emerged from deep within his bone marrow; it was not an actual sound, but the Dao sound of resonance at the level of life itself.

Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Skill, Perfection!

Almost at the same moment, the secret technique matched with the Cultivation Technique, Dragons Roar and Tigers Howl, also naturally reached the realm of Perfection.

Jiang Hanzhou had previously cultivated this sound-attack secret technique to Major Achievement, capable of emitting Dragon and Tiger sounds that could shake the mind and impact the Divine Soul.

And after reaching Perfection, its power and precision of control were no longer comparable to before.

He even had a feeling that if he were to fully unleash Dragons Roar and Tigers Howl now, it would be enough to make an ordinary Martial Artist at the Perfection of the Viscera Burning Realm lose their composure and suffer chaotic Qi and blood.

The moment both the Cultivation Technique and the secret technique reached Perfection—

A sudden mutation occurred!

Jiang Hanzhou only felt his Sea of Consciousness shake, as if a thunderclap had exploded deep within his Soul.

Immediately, an indescribable and mysterious state descended.

All perception of his surroundings instantly became blurry and distant; the stone chamber, the night-luminescent pearls, and even his own body seemed to have disappeared.

His "spirit" was elevated to an indescribable height, as if he had established some direct connection with the Dao in the nether.

Before his eyes were no longer material scenes, but countless flowing lights, shadows, runes, and fragments of Dao rules...

The essence of time, space, matter, and energy was presented before his "eyes" in the most straightforward way.

"Is this... an Epiphany?!"

A stormy sea surged in Jiang Hanzhou's heart.

He had experienced "Epiphany" several times when his fate ascended, but that was prepared and expected.

But the Epiphany at this moment was without warning, purely a brief resonance generated between his own Comprehension Ability, which was stimulated to the extreme at the moment of the Cultivation Technique's Perfection and the convergence of spiritual Opportunity, and the Dao rules of heaven and earth!

This was an Opportunity that could be met but not sought!

"Opportunity!"

The ecstasy lasted only for a moment, and Jiang Hanzhou's strong willpower immediately suppressed all distracting thoughts.

Opportunity must not be lost!

He almost instinctively guided this precious Epiphany state toward the cultivation of the Li Huo Golden Body Art!

Previously, the second layer of the Li Huo Golden Body Art, "Bone Refining," had reached Major Achievement, and the Li Huo Baleful Qi had just begun to form, but there was still a long way to go before the third layer, "Blood Burning," or even Perfection.

Cultivating step by step, even with the assistance of Spirit Stones, would require at least half a year of hard work.

But in the state of Epiphany—

Everything was different!

In his Sea of Consciousness, the essential Mind-Cultivation Technique of the Li Huo Golden Body Art, the True Intent Map for visualization, the operation routes of Qi and blood... were like grease thrown into a blazing fire, burning and sublimating at an unprecedented speed!

Countless doubts during cultivation were solved at this moment.

The blurriness of looking at flowers through the fog when visualizing the True Intent Map in the past completely disappeared; that reddish-gold great sun, that sea of flames, the soaring Golden Crow, and the churning Fire Dragon... became incomparably clear, and he could even "see" the True Intent contained in every flicker of flame!

Within his body, the Li Huo Baleful Qi seemed to have received the highest command, growing with unprecedented efficiency.

Qi and blood were crazily extracted and tempered, merging into the Baleful Qi.

That wisp of Baleful Qi became thicker and brighter at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming as solid as liquid metal!

The layer of pale golden "Li Huo Baleful Membrane" under his skin continuously thickened and strengthened, with faint, dense reddish-gold runes faintly appearing and disappearing within it.

A burning itch came from deep within his bones, as if flames were burning in his bone marrow; Impurities were refined, and the bone quality transformed toward a direction that was crystal-like as jade and indestructible.

Time lost its meaning in this deep level of Epiphany and cultivation.

Jiang Hanzhou was completely immersed in the ocean of Dao, greedily absorbing every nutrient.

One day... five days... ten days...

When the secluded cultivation entered the twenty-eighth day.

In the quiet room, the cross-legged Jiang Hanzhou suddenly opened his eyes!

In his eyes, there was no longer a distinction between pupil and white, only two raging reddish-gold flames!

Deep within the flames, the grand scenes of the sun rising and the moon setting, and the Tide rising and falling, could be faintly seen circulating.

The reddish-gold Qi and blood all over his body no longer boiled and radiated outward, but instead completely retracted; his skin presented a texture that was warm and moist like jade, yet implicitly contained a metallic luster; looking closely, faint flame patterns had naturally formed between the skin textures.

Inside his body, that wisp of Li Huo Baleful Qi had grown to the thickness of a thumb, like a reddish-gold fire dragon, coiling in his Dantian, complementing the blood core; at the dragon's head, a point of pure golden light shone as bright as a star, emitting a terrifying Pure Yang power that broke evil.

His bones were crystal clear, faintly revealing a reddish-gold luster, and his bone marrow was like mercury, heavy and scorching.

As his Qi and blood circulated, there was no sound at all, yet it inherently contained a majestic momentum as heavy as a mountain and as scorching as the sun.

Li Huo Golden Body Art, third layer "Blood Burning," Major Achievement!

No, not just Major Achievement.

It was Perfection!