Free Web NovelChapter 118: Chapter 117: Blood Breaking Barrier
CRACK—
But the expected sounds of cracking bones and a muffled groan never came.
Instead, the man heard the faint, grating friction of his own arm bones.
An unimaginably terrifying power was "awakening" within his grasp, slowly... yet resolutely, prying his iron-gate-like arms open, inch by inch.
He practiced the *Red River Nine Gates Technique*. Although he had only reached the third gate, his arms generating three rings, his constant tempering of Qi Blood through a special Secret Technique had already pushed the pure strength of his arms to several times that of a Martial Artist in the same realm.
He had once crushed a half-meter-thick millstone into a pile of rubble with a simple squeeze, let alone a person.
He was confident he could leave two deep marks even on a body cast from copper and forged from iron.
At this moment, however, he felt as if he weren’t holding a person, but an untamable wild bull, a colossal python stretching its muscles...
A colossal python!
The blood drained from the man’s face, his expression twisting into horror. He watched, wide-eyed, as an unseen, enormous creature seemed to ripple and writhe beneath the handsome young man’s suit.
He heard the crisp sound of threads snapping and buttons popping off the suit, one by one. Then, he watched as the young man, who had suddenly seemed to grow a size larger out of thin air, slowly "broke free" from his embrace.
He turned.
His hands gripped the man’s coarse, red arms, and his face held a calm that was almost regretful.
"A pity... If only you could have given me a little more pressure."
With that, the young man’s palms, pressing against the man’s arms, twisted gently outward....
CRACK!
The man’s arms were instantly twisted like two strands of fried dough by an irresistible force. Raw, white bone shards poked out from his shoulders.
His face contorted instantly, but before a scream could escape his throat, he saw a fair, smooth palm floating lightly toward his face.
THUD!
CRACK, CRACK...
A series of skull-shattering sounds erupted.
Fu Juemin’s palm touched and immediately retracted, and he quickly retreated several steps.
A small, fan-shaped spray of red and white matter burst outward. The man didn’t even make a sound before falling backward with a THUMP.
Casually pulling a handkerchief from his suit pocket, Fu Juemin meticulously wiped away the bloodstains he had accidentally gotten on his palm. He looked at the man’s corpse before him, his brow furrowed slightly.
’Not even this one is enough... It seems this really isn’t going to work...’
To advance from the Blood Refining Realm to the Blood Barrier, one had to break through the two barriers of body and mind.
These two barriers sounded profound, but in reality, they just required sufficient external pressure—both physical and psychological.
To satisfy both requirements at once, a life-and-death duel was undoubtedly the most suitable method. After all, the brink of death was the easiest way to stimulate one’s latent potential, just like the life-and-death arena at the Walking Flesh Hall that Cao Tian used to frequent on the Luan River.
That was why Big Cat had thought of using death row inmates from the prison to help Fu Juemin break through his barrier.
But after several days of these "deathmatches in jail," Fu Juemin found the results to be lackluster.
The main issue was that his foundation was simply too deep. Although he had been training step-by-step like a normal Martial Artist, his panel Attributes kept increasing. His Life Attribute, as high as ten points, had long since imperceptibly broadened his foundation, causing his Attack Attribute to skyrocket during his Blood Refining period.
He hadn’t felt it much before, but after effortlessly killing several Blood Barrier Realm Martial Artists over the past few days, he now understood just how absurd 23 points of Attack was for a Blood Refining Martial Artist.
The death row inmate lying on the ground, a man named Luo Gang, was already a "final boss" level existence among the prisoners here—his strength was infinitely close to the Tongxuan realm, and he was famous for his monstrous power.
But even he was no match for Fu Juemin.
He had used his unique Secret Technique toward the end, which provided a small surprise, but not much. Fu Juemin still killed him with a casual palm strike.
’I haven’t even used my Poison Technique... At this point, to give me enough pressure, not even that scar-faced Tongxuan who worked for Song Lin would be enough. It would probably take someone like that gray-haired old man Uncle Tong killed...’
’The prisoners in here top out at the Blood Barrier realm. A Tongxuan of that level would either be crippled or killed on the spot; there’s no way one would be caught and locked up in a cell, alive and kicking...’
’Big Cat, Kitty, and Uncle Tong could meet my requirements, but it’s hard to feel any psychological tension when sparring with them...’
Fu Juemin thought it over and over, finally realizing that for the time being, his only path to a breakthrough was by adding points.
In fact, he had anticipated this would likely be the outcome before he even entered the cell, which was why he had deliberately made a huge commotion to create the illusion of an intense struggle.
’After a Basic Attribute exceeds 10, it costs 2 Attribute Points to raise it by 1. After 20, the cost increases to 3...’
Fu Juemin pulled up his character panel. He looked at the 3 Attribute Points he had saved up over the past two months, his gaze wavering between Life and Attack. Finally, he gritted his teeth and "ruthlessly" spent them all on Attack.
The panel’s Attack statistic encompassed many aspects: strength, speed, technique, and so on. However, if the increase came purely from adding points, it would only enhance one’s physical constitution.
He watched as the 23 behind the Attack Attribute on his panel quietly changed to 24.
Though it was merely a single point increase, Fu Juemin felt as if he had stepped into another world entirely.
BOOM!
Inside his body, his powerful and surging Qi Blood was like a drop of water falling into a pot of boiling oil—it instantly exploded.
His Qi Blood, which had already reached its limit, surged once more, giving Fu Juemin the sensation that it had become "as viscous as mercury."
The invisible shackles and barriers on his body were shattered in an instant. Following that, with a strange, dense, and subtle creaking sound, his body rapidly grew more robust. Beneath his suit shirt, his previously smooth and well-proportioned muscles bulged slightly, their contours becoming sharper and more defined...
He stood motionless, his attire unchanged, yet his entire bearing and features inexplicably became sharper and more heroic.
And then...
Wisps of Vitality began to quietly emerge from every corner of his body.
"Is... this the Blood Barrier?"
Fu Juemin extended his palm, then suddenly clenched his fingers into a fist, effortlessly creating a short, explosive pop of air.
The moment he struck, a portion of the Qi Blood in his body surged, then "evaporated" into invisible wisps of Vitality that coated his palm, causing a sudden spike in both the speed and power of his attack.
’The difference between this and the Poisonous Killing Qi from the *Five Aggregates Profound Slaughter Technique* is that the Poisonous Killing Qi is normally gathered in the Poisonous Seed. When mobilized, it’s released from the Poisonous Seed and travels through the meridians...’
’But Vitality is generated from Qi Blood and is rapidly activated when called upon. When not in use, it’s impossible to find...’
The so-called Tongxuan realm was built upon this foundation: continuously strengthening one’s Qi Blood, mastering its circulation and mobilization, and then forming a unique "Great Cycle" within the body...
Ultimately, one would reach a state where with a mere thought, their entire body’s Qi Blood would vaporize, Vitality would instantly flow through them, forming a Qi Membrane in a self-sustaining, endless cycle.
’Between the Blood Barrier and Tongxuan realms, besides the difference in the sheer volume of Qi Blood, there is also a gap in the skill and mastery of using Vitality...’
Fu Juemin looked at his right hand, his eyes glinting as he mused, ’My Attack is now as high as 24. The sheer volume of my Qi Blood is probably on par with that of an average Tongxuan expert.
If I fully rouse and circulate my Qi Blood, even if I can’t generate a defensive Qi Membrane, when it comes to just striking...
I wonder if I can bypass their Qi Membrane,
and kill an ordinary Tongxuan expert with a single palm strike!’
