32: Chapter 32 Breakthrough to Ninth Rank, Treasure Chest Reappears

To be honest, the difficulty of forging a spear somewhat exceeded Lin Ye's expectations.

Don't think there are fewer types of spears than sabers; its sheer volume is a factor right there.

A standard seven-foot spear generally consists of four parts: the spearhead, the tassel, the shaft, and the butt. Each part has its own intricacies.

The spearhead must be sharp yet not brittle; the shaft must be resilient yet not soft; the butt must be weighty yet not cumbersome.

If any part is slightly off, the entire spear is little more than a fire poker.

Even though Lin Ye had pioneered a hands-on experiential approach, he still had to ruin over a dozen spears before barely grasping the rudiments.

He still had a long way to go before forging a truly qualified spear.

Fortunately, spear techniques and staff techniques share some common ground.

After learning the basic spear technique from Zhao Shanhe, Lin Ye reached the proficient Realm in just three days.

Although it didn't add any attributes, it significantly elevated his understanding of the spear.

When he returned to forging spears afterward, the feel immediately became different.

Finally, after a full five days, a black iron spear gradually took shape in Lin Ye's hands.

The spear was seven feet three inches long, its tip as sharp as an awn of wheat.

Lin Ye gave the spear a shake in the courtyard; the tip sliced through the air with a sharp whistle.

[Fine Spear, Quality: Common One-Star, Overall Score: 58]

"Not bad!"

At that moment, Second Uncle also walked over, his face beaming with a smile.

Though it was only two words, Lin Ye knew this was practically the highest praise one could get from Second Uncle's mouth.

Hearing words like "excellent" or "amazing" from Second Uncle was harder than ascending to heaven.

With the spear forging accomplished, Lin Ye resumed his routine: using the Hundred Refinements Method to temper refined iron in the mornings, sparring with Captain Zhao at the Martial Arts Training Ground in the afternoons, and tempering his body with medicinal baths at home in the evenings.

As days passed, Lin Ye's proficiency in his various Cultivation Techniques steadily increased.

Finally, during several consecutive days of intense forging, both the Hundred Refinements Method and the Basic Forging Method successively achieved a Realm Breakthrough.

The former broke through from initial insight to proficient, while the latter advanced from proficient to Flowing Water.

Following this came an increase in his Essence attribute.

[Essence]: 20

Staring at the number on his status panel, Lin Ye had a faint feeling that his Physical Body had truly reached its limit.

It wasn't that the Essence attribute couldn't increase further, but the Qi within his body couldn't keep up.

Currently, his Qi attribute remained at 8 points—a full 12-point gap. Relying solely on external resources to compensate for this energy consumption wasn't realistic.

"It's time for a Breakthrough."

Lin Ye glanced at the proficiency of his Basic Breathing Method: Flowing Water (94550/100000)

In fact, he could have Broken Through the Realm of the Basic Breathing Method a day ago, but he deliberately slowed the pace because his Physical Body hadn't been tempered to its limit yet.

Now that all preparations were complete, there was no need to hold back any longer.

Closing his eyes, he gradually adjusted his breathing to the rhythm of the Basic Breathing Method.

Inhale and exhale, draw in and release.

The Qi in his Dantian slowly rotated with his breathing, like a small stream flowing unhurriedly along his Meridians to every part of his body.

In truth, the Breathing Method at the Flowing Water Realm had already become an instinctual part of his breathing.

He didn't need to consciously control it; his body naturally knew how to breathe.

Time quietly slipped by.

One hour, two hours...

The Qi in his Dantian gathered more and more, beginning to surge wildly through his Meridians, emitting a faint humming sound.

Finally, a long-awaited prompt sounded:

"Ding! The Realm of the Basic Breathing Method has been elevated. Current Realm: Entering the Hall (0/1000000)"

The next second, Lin Ye's body shuddered violently.

*Boom.*

Qi exploded from his Dantian like a bursting dam, rushing toward his limbs and bones.

Lin Ye instinctively straightened his spine. His scalp tingled, and all the hairs on his body stood on end.

That Qi was too dense, too intense. It scoured its way along his Meridians, seemingly unstoppable.

First the bones, then the flesh, stopping only when it reached the skin layer.

At that moment, Lin Ye felt as if millions of ants were crawling beneath his skin. He wanted to scratch but didn't dare, his face flushing red with the effort of holding back.

He had heard the Captain describe the sensations during Physical Body metamorphosis, but it didn't seem this painful?

Suddenly, the itching sensation vanished, replaced by heat.

Extreme heat!

His entire body felt as if it were being roasted over a fire. Sweat barely emerged before evaporating, leaving only dark stains—Impurities expelled from his pores.

Lin Ye could feel his skin changing, becoming denser and more resilient.

Although it couldn't yet repel blades and spears, it was starting to develop in that direction.

This feeling was like an Ore being repeatedly forged, its Impurities squeezed out bit by bit until it became pure iron.

Finally, after the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the Qi entrenched in his skin layer slowly receded.

Of course, this didn't mean the Physical Body metamorphosis was over.

This was merely the beginning.

The Captain had said before that the first Physical Body metamorphosis starts with the skin, then the flesh, and finally the bones.

Lin Ye hadn't even finished metamorphosing his skin yet; he was still far from completing his first full Physical Body metamorphosis.

The reason the metamorphosis stopped was that the Qi within his body was temporarily depleted.

Once his Qi became abundant again, he could initiate the metamorphosis anew at any time.

Of course, if this were a Disciple of a major power, they'd probably be swallowing various Medicinal Pills to consolidate their foundation and nurture their vitality, thereby accelerating Qi recovery.

However, for Lin Ye, such trouble was completely unnecessary.

The Basic Breathing Method at the Entering the Hall Realm granted him a Qi recovery speed far surpassing that of an ordinary Ninth-Grade Martial Artist.

After just a few breaths, a new strand of Qi was born within him.

It was like filling a well.

The deeper the well, the faster it fills.

"Haaah..."

Lin Ye let out a long sigh, feeling as if he had come back to life.

The path of Martial Arts truly isn't for everyone.

Without a certain level of willpower, succeeding in a Breakthrough would be tough.

After all, if one couldn't hold on and fainted, losing the guidance of their own will, that Qi would run rampant within the body.

That scenario was terrifying just to imagine.

Fortunately, he had endured.

As Lin Ye was lost in his reflections, a System prompt, far more majestic and vast than before, suddenly exploded in his mind—

"Ding! Global Martial Domain Announcement: As the first Ninth-Grade Martial Artist has emerged among the initial batch of players, the recruitment of the second batch of Blue Star players into the game will commence shortly. Stay tuned!"

Lin Ye was stunned by this sudden announcement.

A second batch of players?

He never expected that his simple Breakthrough would cause such a huge commotion.

How long had the first batch of players been in the game?

Counting all the days, it hadn't even been a full month, and now a second batch was arriving immediately.

He wondered, how many players would be in the second batch?

However, before Lin Ye could fully digest this news, another prompt immediately sounded in his ears.

This time, the voice was much more normal, clearly meant for him alone.

"Ding! As the first player to Break Through to Ninth-Grade Martial Artist, you are specially rewarded with: Self-Select Cultivation Technique Treasure Chest (Green) *1, Player Recruitment Token *3"

Lin Ye's eyes lit up.

If the previous server-wide announcement was a shock, this System prompt was pure, unexpected delight.

A green-quality Cultivation Technique treasure chest!

This was a whole tier higher than the white chest he had obtained before.

As for those three Player Recruitment Tokens, they sounded like they were for inviting people into the game—utterly useless to him.

Eagerly opening the Cultivation Technique treasure chest, five ethereal images of Cultivation Techniques immediately materialized before his eyes.