37: Chapter 37 Marrow Cleansing!

Thump! Thump-thump! Thump-thump, thump-thump!

His heartbeat suddenly spiraled out of control, exploding rapidly within his chest. Before one beat could fade, another followed, so fast it left him breathless. It was as if a massive drum were being beaten so densely the sound blurred into a single continuous line, shaking Su Ye's chest until it felt tight and leaving a sweet taste in his throat. It felt as if the blood throughout his entire body was being forcibly pushed forward by this rhythm.

Su Ye gasped for air, his chest heaving violently, a fine layer of sweat already beading on his forehead.

He slowly opened his eyes and raised a hand to press against his chest, feeling the palpitations that still echoed like aftershocks, his eyes gradually brightening.

This time, he hadn't used Inch Power.

He had simply used his Mental Energy to stimulate his heart.

Ever since he had comprehended Inch Power and truly realized the connection between muscle vibration frequency, the rhythm of his Breathing Technique, and his heart rate, Su Ye had understood one thing.

The heart was the source of it all.

Muscle vibration frequencies, his Breathing Technique, the explosive force of Inch Power—in the end, they were all merely downstream effects.

What truly determined his upper limit was whether his heart could withstand the other parts of him becoming extraordinary, and whether it could serve as an engine capable of bearing the source of all that energy.

If the Su Ye of the past had only been cultivating his physical body, then from this moment on, he had incorporated his heart into his cultivation system as well. His heart was the most intuitive standard in the short term.

Su Ye looked down at the timer on his phone, the screen still displaying the data he had just recorded: 240 beats per minute. Duration: one minute.

This was the limit he could achieve when not using Inch Power or extreme compression, relying solely on his Mental Energy to control his heart. Before, he could reach at most 200 beats per minute. Now, he had forcibly increased it by forty.

It might not sound like much, but Su Ye knew very well that the gap was massive. Every single point of numerical progress when breaking through physiological limits was terrifying and astonishing.

His face had turned somewhat pale.

Su Ye rested in place for a moment until his breathing gradually stabilized and his Mental Energy returned to its resting state. Yet, there was no trace of retreat in his eyes; instead, they burned even brighter.

Because he knew that what he had just done was merely a "steady push."

True terror was never about a steady push; it was about an instantaneous ignition.

Su Ye slowly straightened his body, widened his stance, lowered his shoulders and back, and narrowed his eyes in focus.

The next second.

His Breathing Technique activated.

His heart rate spiked.

His fascia tightened, his muscle groups resonated, and force traveled from his shoulders and back down into his fist. All that gathered energy underwent extreme compression in that single instant.

Boom!

He threw the punch, and a muffled explosion instantly detonated in the air, like a thunderclap on flat ground. The empty water cup near the windowsill jumped from the shock, and the water surface inside rippled with fine concentric circles. Even the stack of draft paper on the table was knocked over by the wind of his punch.

Su Ye slowly retracted his fist. His arm felt slightly numb, and a short but startling after-echo of the dull thud reverberated in his chest.

He immediately closed his eyes, sinking his Mental Energy back into his chest to capture the changes in his heartbeat from that instant.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes and swallowed hard.

412 beats per minute.

That was the result after his calculations.

The force of Inch Power was released in a mere instant; the time it actually reached its peak was likely less than a second. Yet, in that single moment, his heart rate had been forcibly pushed to an extremely terrifying level.

412 beats per minute.

This was a heart rate impossible for a normal human body to achieve. It was also the pressure Su Ye's body had to bear whenever he threw a punch with real lethality.

Su Ye looked down at his fist.

But Su Ye knew.

He now truly possessed the means to "kill."

As long as he controlled the landing point and the explosion of his Inch Power, he could genuinely beat a person to death at close range.

This was no longer just about ordinary physical conditioning.

This was an Art—the true Art belonging to those who were extraordinary.

Su Ye stood there in silence for a long time.

After a while, he slowly sat down, raised a hand to rub his temples, and began to carefully recall the sensation he had experienced during his breakthrough at the entrance of Yuhuang Mountain.

That sensation had been truly marvelous.

It hadn't felt like simply absorbing spiritual energy; it was more like a water level that had been accumulating for a long time had suddenly breached a dam, opening the floodgates.

An extremely pure surge of energy had suddenly gushed out from somewhere deep within his body, circling his entire form like a warm, vast river, washing over him from head to toe.

The exhilaration he had felt then was almost indescribable.

Every cell had seemed to be cheering, and every inch of his flesh and blood had felt as if it had been cleansed anew.

It hadn't just been a simple increase in strength; it was a metamorphosis from the inside out.

Su Ye pondered for a long time before suddenly picking up his small notebook.

He opened it.

He set pen to paper.

After a moment of thought, he first wrote two characters: "Skin Polishing."

He stared at them for two seconds.

He crossed them out.

He wrote again: "Steel Skin."

He frowned.

"Iron Bone."

Su Ye shook his head. Finally, his pen tip paused before he wrote once more.

"Marrow Cleansing."

As soon as he wrote those two characters, he felt a sudden sense of calm.

"Cleansing the essence and cutting the marrow."

It was too similar.

It was too similar to that previous sensation of being washed by a surge of pure energy—as if all the old, turbid, and inferior things had been washed away, leaving behind only the essence capable of truly bearing his cultivation.

Su Ye let out a long breath; he felt that he had now quietly ascended into the inner sanctum of his craft.

Su Ye stared at the two characters for a long time before finally nodding.

"For now, let's call it Marrow Cleansing."

This was the first level of cultivation he had named himself.

Although it might not be entirely accurate or complete, at least from this moment on, his path had a name.

That was very important.

Su Ye closed his notebook and sat quietly for a while until the faint, dull pain in his chest caused by the spike in his heart rate had completely dissipated. He then got up to wash, lay down on his bed, and quickly fell asleep.

...

The next morning, Su Ye woke up very early.

Last night's cultivation had left his body somewhat fatigued, but a night's sleep had restored his state to its peak.

He got up as usual, washed, changed, shouldered his bag, went downstairs to finish breakfast, and then took the subway to the hospital.

On the way, he was still pondering those two numbers from last night.

240 beats per minute.

412 beats per minute.

One was his normal limit, and the other was an instantaneous burst under the state of Inch Power. This meant that for his future cultivation, it wasn't just a matter of spiritual energy and muscles; he also had to find a way to continue tempering his heart.

Only when this "engine" truly became stronger through his cultivation could he continue to push his Inch Power even further.

He pondered this all the way to the hospital. As soon as he arrived, changed into his white coat, and barely had time to sit down, someone from the nurses' station called out to him.

"Su Ye, the hospital has assigned you a task."

"What task?"

"The Publicity Department wants to see you."

Ten minutes later, Su Ye looked at the notice in his hand and fell silent.

The hospital's intention was very simple.

Su Ye had been making quite a name for himself in the hospital recently. Ranking first in the province for his Medical Practitioner License, being personally named by Zhou Jingtang, participating in consultations, and having the hospital express an interest in retaining him—this series of events had combined to make him the most eye-catching young doctor at The First Peoples Hospital recently.

Therefore, the hospital hoped he would film a video or do an interview for their official account, which would serve as publicity for The First Hospital and boost the hospital's visibility among the public.

Su Ye pinched the paper, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

Cultivation, breakthroughs, Marrow Cleansing, Inch Power—he hadn't even finished figuring these things out yet.

Now the hospital actually wanted him to be their face?

He looked down at the notice and remained speechless for a long time.

Forget it.

Might as well just do it!