We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

Chapter 186 A Sudden Increase in Strength! Peak of the Mortal Transformation Realm! (8k views, requesting monthly votes)

Which one should we choose as our first prey?

Melbourne used divine power to conceal his figure and aura, and then, without anyone noticing, he swaggered across the front lines from the rear in a matter of moments.

Even Yue Feng, Lei Zhentian, and Cheng Shangwu, three peak-level martial artists of the Sea Opening Realm, did not discover anything unusual.

This is the terrifying aspect of divine power: turning the rotten into the miraculous.

but.

Melbourne, which was originally overjoyed, is now troubled when it comes to choosing which top martial arts prodigy to choose, after all, it still has some self-awareness.

Its current strength is only at the peak of the Transcendent Realm. If it uses the clone technique, the strength of both the main body and the clone will inevitably drop to the late stage of the Transcendent Realm.

A late-stage Transcendent Realm expert's strength is more than enough to deal with ordinary martial arts prodigies still in school, but top-tier martial arts prodigies cannot be expected by common sense.

At that point, forget about watermelons, you won't even be able to pick up sesame seeds.

"Yuwen Changkong, 18 years old, the ninth holy son of the Starry Sky Martial Hall, a top-tier martial arts prodigy, possessor of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Holy Body, with a physical fitness level of 18.8..."

"Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, this seems a bit troublesome." Melbourne browsed through the information about Yuwen Changkong sent by Ram in his mind, glanced at the thick black clouds beside him, and couldn't help but frown slightly.

There is no easy way to handle anything involving Thunder.

Moreover, Yuwen Changkong also carries the Thunder Pearl, and with the home advantage, even a peak Transcendent Realm cultivator would probably find it difficult to reach within a meter of him.

Let alone blood, even any hair, once separated from the body, would be blasted into dust by the terrifying lightning energy.

Therefore, this goal can basically be ignored.

"Shen Bailian, 17 years old, the 'Number One Person in History' of Tiangang Academy, a top martial arts prodigy, a hidden holy body, with a physical fitness level of 19.1..."

"Hiss~" Upon seeing the information about Shen Bailian in his mind, Melbourne couldn't help but gasp in surprise, muttering to himself, "A 17-year-old in the late stage of the Transcendent Realm?"

As for whether the information in one's mind is true or not, there is naturally no doubt about that.

All the information about Yuwen Changkong and Melbourne was obtained by Ram using a great deal of divine power from the river of time.

"This Shen Bailian doesn't seem that difficult to deal with, and my strength is still at the peak of the second tier. With the protection of divine power, I can easily deal with that kid."

"If we can capture him without him noticing, this time we might not only be able to redeem ourselves, but we might even be able to... turn him to the enemy..."

Melbourne's mind worked incredibly fast, and a multitude of ideas flashed through his mind in an instant. At the same time, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

……

Inside the wilderness training room.

The swirling energy of heaven and earth emanated from the second-tier elemental crystal and dissipated into the wilderness training room. Under the influence of the surrounding soft force field, it gathered around the boy.

Then, through the pores of the boy's body, he entered the Dragon Gate Seed, which existed between reality and illusion that day, to undergo the first round of tempering...

Rumble~
The purest and most refined elemental energy of heaven and earth flowed like a surging river, never stopping for a moment, causing Shen Bailian's muscles, blood, bones, internal organs, and so on to undergo another comprehensive evolution.

His entire body was involuntarily covered by a faint, shimmering white light, as if he were born with divine divine power.

This is a manifestation of a body that has reached a certain level of strength. Every cell is exceptionally full and round, brimming with vitality. The blood plasma is like mercury, heavy yet pure; the bones are like white jade, hard yet resilient...

[Basic breathing techniques have been advanced to the Five Elements Breathing Method]

【Five Elements Breathing Method LV1 (1/700)】

Congratulations! Your Physique attribute has been increased!

Congratulations! Your Spirit attribute has been increased!

【…】

A series of notification messages flashed rapidly across the panel.

Shen Bailian closed his eyes tightly, his consciousness sinking, and he immersed himself in the practice of the Five Elements Breathing Technique. This was another new transformation after the upgrade of the basic breathing technique.

The warm current and the purest primordial energy of heaven and earth merged into one, permeating every part of Shen Bailian's body, causing astonishing changes and continuous transformations.

This physical change occurs under the influence of the warm current, so there is no pain; on the contrary, it is an unusually comfortable feeling.

Buzz~buzz~
Shen Bailian's ocean of spiritual energy was also infused with new vitality, constantly undergoing two processes of expansion and compression, which not only increased the quantity of spiritual energy but also enhanced its intensity.

……

As Shen Bailian's strength continued to transform under the influence of the warm current.

Thousands of meters above the main battlefield, the dark clouds rolled like waves, as if a giant beast had opened its jaws to devour everything, with thick lightning bolts crisscrossing the sky.

A scene resembling an apocalyptic disaster.

Hundreds of streaks of light of varying colors tore through the thick black clouds, like meteors streaking across the night sky. Each clash was accompanied by dazzling light and deafening roar.

Cheng Shangwu's speed was incredibly fast, like a streak of light. In an instant, he closed in on a Lesser High-Rank Divine Favored One, and his hand, encased in Force Armor, slammed down onto the opponent's chest.

"Oh!"

In the blink of an eye, the chest of the several-meter-tall Lesser High-Rank Divine Favored collapsed instantly, and he was sent flying backward at a speed exceeding multiple times the speed of sound. The powerful shock caused him to disintegrate instantly in mid-air, rapidly disintegrating from head to toe.

Large amounts of blood rained down on the ground, accompanied by cracking and splattering sounds. Hard rocks and the massive bodies of ferocious beasts were pierced through, riddled with holes.

The scene was extremely horrific.

A martial artist at the mid-stage of the Opening Sea Realm felt the scratch on his cheek, his pupils constricted, the hairs on his body stood on end, and his expression changed instantly.

If the aftershocks of a battle at the peak of the Sea Opening Realm have such power, how terrifying would the power be in a direct confrontation? If it were seen by the public, it would probably turn into a pile of blood-stained bone fragments.

No, I can't stay in this place any longer.

The martial artist, at the mid-stage of the Sea Opening Realm, took a deep breath, his pores opened, his blood boiled, and a surge of powerful primal force flowed from his dantian. Then, he suddenly soared into the air.

It moved at high speed towards the rest of the territory.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Yue Feng, fully clad in Force Armor, increased his strength by several levels. He charged toward Ram, who had transformed into a six-armed bodhisattva, at an extremely fast speed. White light surged and the sound of wind and thunder was deafening.

A pair of arms traced phantom-like trajectories, the Force surging forth. The speed was so fast that the air kept exploding, and it looked as if bolts of lightning were flashing across the sky, like world-destroying thunder, with the sound of thunder resounding throughout the heavens.

Below the man and the god, no ferocious beast or human dared to linger for even a moment, for fear of being severely injured or reduced to ashes by the aftershocks of the battle.

"hu~hu~"

Lei Zhentian's chest heaved violently as he took out three high-grade Tier 3 nutritional potions from his storage ring and drank them down in one gulp. Then he took out a Tier 3 Star Crystal to rapidly restore his condition.

"Oh ho, you actually dismantled that guy so quickly?" Cheng Shangwu appeared beside Lei Zhentian at some point, a teasing look on his face, and joked:

"It seems your skills have improved recently."

"Likewise." Lei Zhentian was secretly pleased, but on the surface he pretended to be nonchalant.

After the two lesser high-ranking divine favored ones were temporarily defeated, Cheng Shangwu and Lei Zhentian were finally able to relax for a while.

Theoretically speaking, divine favor is merely an object used to bear the power of the gods; it has no life of its own. Since it has no life, there is naturally no concept of death.

As long as they have the power of the gods, those favored by the gods can be resurrected.

Because they are located within the Great Xia territory, even within the cave world, they are more or less affected by the Zhou Tian Star Array.

Therefore, Ram would certainly not remain indifferent to the fact that two lesser high-ranking divine favored beings were easily defeated.

"By the way, we haven't heard from Xiao Shen for half an hour. Aren't you worried that the child might be in some danger?" Lei Zhentian glanced at Cheng Shangwu and said casually.

Because they were located in the No. 98 Cave Heaven Small World, when Shen Bailian and Yuwen Changkong went out to carry out missions, their smart bracelets would send a location information to the nearest Sky Eye device every ten minutes.

Everything is normal on Yuwen Changkong's side, but there's been some problem with Shen Bailian; there hasn't been any response for half an hour.

There are basically only two reasons for this situation.

Firstly, because they were engaged in a life-or-death battle, the smart bracelet automatically entered a silent state; secondly, because Shen Bailian went to cultivate, the smart bracelet would also automatically enter a silent state to protect his privacy.

"It's alright." Cheng Shangwu smiled confidently and said calmly, "I have already ordered a martial artist in the mid-stage of the Sea Opening Realm to go in that direction. Even if they encounter a ferocious beast in the late stage of the third tier, it will be enough to hold out for a few minutes."

“Alright.” Lei Zhentian smiled and shook his head: “You’ve become more and more observant the longer you’ve spent with Yu Linglong. In the past, you would never have noticed this kind of thing.”

"no way."

"After all, Shen Bailian is a top-tier martial arts prodigy that the Tiangang Academy has seen only once in decades. He can be injured or crippled, but his life must not be endangered."

“Otherwise, even if I slaughter ten fourth-tier ferocious beasts, Lao Duan and the others will not forgive me.” Cheng Shangwu said solemnly, “Moreover, as a teacher at the Martial Arts University, how could I possibly watch my students step into a dangerous situation?”

"I'm sure you wouldn't make such a basic mistake if it were you, right?"

“Indeed.” Lei Zhentian nodded.

The reason why Tiangang Academy can become one of the six major martial arts universities is not only because of the strong strength of its teachers, but also because of its care for martial arts students.

The high-ranking officials of the Great Xia Dynasty, including the president of the Martial Arts University, can command from their lofty positions, can be "cold-blooded," can be "ruthless," and can treat martial arts prodigies as pawns, or...

However, this doesn't apply to middle-level personnel like teachers and deans; otherwise, the question of "why we fight" would become a mental obstacle for all martial arts students.

If the Great Xia wants to survive after the gods return, there are two paths.

The first path is to select a true peerless genius through continuous competitions and wilderness trials, who will eventually become a Martial God and protect the Great Xia Dynasty.

The second path is to become a god through faith.

Ordinary people have very weak faith, but as their martial arts strength increases, their faith also increases.

Guided by the idea that "everyone is a dragon," and with "compulsory education" as the specific implementation plan, the goal is to cultivate every citizen of Great Xia into a martial artist at the Life Realm within five hundred years, in addition to a population of billions.

According to the model provided by the Great Xia Heavenly Intelligence Center, such a massive amount of faith power, gathered on the strongest member of the Great Xia human race, would be enough to create a god.

Da Xia's choice between these two paths is "I want both".

Therefore, as long as martial arts students have not betrayed humanity, not abandoning any martial arts student is the bottom line that all martial arts university teachers must follow.

……

Inside the wilderness training room.

Rumble~
The blood flowed like a long river rushing down from the plateau, making a deafening roar. Shen Bailian's face was slightly flushed, and his internal organs were resonating at different frequencies.

Congratulations! Your physical attribute has been improved!

Suddenly, a notification message flashed rapidly across the panel.

"This upgrade is over."

Shen Bailian slowly opened his eyes, and a burst of light suddenly erupted out, which slowly dissipated after a long time. He felt that his spiritual power was exceptionally full, and all the fatigue accumulated from the battle had disappeared. It was as if he had inexhaustible power within him.

His consciousness sank into every part of his body, carefully sensing his transformed state, his eyes unusually calm.

"A 0.9-level increase in less than an hour, and directly to the peak of the Transcendent Realm, I doubt anyone would believe it if I told them?" Shen Bailian could already sense the immense power contained within his body without even standing up.

It's incredibly powerful, beyond imagination.

"My current physical fitness level." Shen Bailian's eyes flickered slightly, and a holographic yet clear panel appeared before his eyes—

Character Level: LV9 (1808/3000)

Physical Strength: 20.0; Spirit: 19.5

【…】

Divine Skill: Shadow Follows LV6 (0/160) (Energy Storage: 1 times)
Eye of God LV2 (322/700)

[Active Skill: Five Elements Breathing Technique LV1 (3/700)]

……

[Divine Matter: 289]

In just one hour, Shen Bailian's physical fitness level jumped from 19.1 to a terrifying 20.0.

The single-arm maximum punching power increased by more than two-thirds. In the eyes of Cheng Shangwu and others, this was equivalent to directly stepping from the mid-stage of the Transcendent Realm to the threshold of the peak of the Transcendent Realm.

"It seems that the Five Elements Breathing Technique has once again become the highest-level skill among all skills." Shen Bailian slowly stood up, feeling the surging primal force within his body, and couldn't help but feel a little excited.

"Advancing the basic breathing technique can actually increase the physical attribute value by 0.4 and the mental attribute value by 0.2, directly maximizing its strength."

As for the remaining 0.1 points of physical attribute value, based on past experience, practicing breathing techniques when the warm current appears will yield twice the result with half the effort.

Therefore, by leveraging the "evolutionary power" formed by the fusion of warm currents and the purest primordial energy of heaven and earth, and further enhancing the more efficient "Five Elements Breathing Method" after advancement.

This allowed Shen Bailian's physical attributes to reach an even higher level, increasing by 0.1 levels from 19.9, directly advancing him from the late stage of the Transcendent Realm to the peak of the Transcendent Realm.

However, this kind of good thing can only happen once in a short period of time.

Because the warm current only appears when the skill is upgraded or advanced.

"Now, if I unleash my full power, even a martial artist who has just entered the early stage of the Sea Opening Realm should not be able to withstand a single blow from me," Shen Bailian estimated his own strength.

His current basic single-arm maximum punching power is 360 tons, and after a fourfold increase, it will reach 1440 tons, plus the speed during explosive bursts.

This terrifying power is enough to blast even a fully loaded truck to pieces.

of course.

Shen Bailian understood that this was merely a psychological illusion caused by the fact that his strength had just undergone a transformation and surged.

"However, now that I'm in this Cave Heaven No. 98, I finally have some power to protect myself. A three-fold burst of power under normal conditions is enough to solve all the difficulties," Shen Bailian thought to himself.

As long as he doesn't encounter any divine beings with third-tier strength, Shen Bailian can basically ensure the safety of this operation, given his 289 points of divine matter.

Even with a fourfold burst, it's enough to unleash five or six such bursts.

“A martial artist who can advance to the Sea Opening Realm has at least mastered the third stage of martial arts technique, Breath of All Things. In addition, with the existence of the Force Armor, their combat power is at least more than twice that of a third-tier ferocious beast of the same level.”

This is the advantage of martial artists.

With multifaceted enhancements, from martial arts skills and techniques to various high-precision equipment, a martial artist at the Opening Sea Realm can single-handedly form an army.

If it weren't for divine intervention, the ferocious beasts on Earth Star would probably have been tamed again.

"Now I don't have to worry about my primal force running out in a short time." Shen Bailian felt a surge of joy as he sensed the immense primal force within him.

This way, he no longer needs to spend time and energy running on the ground, but can instead soar through the sky and quickly reach his destination.

“Captain Yue hasn’t sent any messages yet.” Shen Bailian woke up his silent smart bracelet, glanced at the messages, and his eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light: “Looks like that guy wasn’t lying.”

"We've struck it rich! We've struck it rich! This time we've really struck it rich!"

Within the 98th Cave Heaven World, there are many precious lands for cultivating ferocious beasts. These lands are filled with rare and precious materials, and even Ram harvests a batch of these materials every so often.

However, the attack by the Sharp Sword Enforcement Team was sudden, and even Ram was unaware of it beforehand, so the rare treasures in the treasure land had not yet been destroyed.

The cowardly lesser divine favored one had previously revealed the location of a treasure land.

"Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that what that beast said was only half true." Shen Bailian narrowed his eyes slightly: "There is a high probability that there is a ferocious beast guarding the entrance to this treasure land, and its strength is likely no less than the late stage of the second tier."

The reason it is called the late stage of the second tier is because among the three divine favorites, the strongest divine favorite was only the peak of the second tier, who was killed by him first.

This means that there is a 90% probability that combat power at the third tier and above has been deployed to the main battlefield.

After all, hundreds of hydrogen bombs are not to be underestimated, and with three peak-level martial artists at the limit of the Cave Heaven World, even the God-favored Ram would not dare to be careless.

Whoever believes the words of a mortal enemy is a fool...

“However,” Shen Bailian suddenly revealed a sinister smile, “that person would never have imagined that my strength could rise to the peak of the Transcendent Realm in such a short time.”

"And I also possess the divine skill [Shadow Follows], you think you can take my life? You must be dreaming!"

"Fortune favors the bold? I prefer stability!"

"Striving for one's own cultivation resources is also a form of self-discipline, but it is absolutely not about blindly taking risks and putting oneself in danger."

From the moment he decided to practice martial arts until now, Shen Bailian has never done anything he wasn't confident about.

You only live once!
Think of this.

Without further hesitation, Shen Bailian immediately left the wilderness training room. After gathering the items and reforming them into a black-gold combination lock box, he stored them in his storage ring and quickly devised a plan...

After confirming that everything was ready, he took out a second-tier elemental crystal from his storage ring, held it in his palm, and then tapped it slightly on his chest.

hum~
In an instant, with a soft sound, the nanosuit was activated, covering Shen Bailian's entire body.

boom!
Like a thunderbolt, Shen Bailian's figure instantly rose from the ground, his internal primal force surging, and his speed increased faster and faster, quickly reaching an astonishing 300m/s.

Like a sharp arrow piercing through the dark clouds, Shen Bailian, clad in a faint Force armor, swiftly traversed the clouds amidst a sharp whistling sound, his Divine Eye scanning everything within several kilometers in extreme detection mode.

“Ahhh—”

The feeling of soaring freely through the sky made Shen Bailian, experiencing it for the first time, shout out. It's no wonder he was so excited; he had never had such an experience before.

This is true flight, without the aid of any external force.

More than ten minutes after Shen Bailian left.

A centaur-shaped divine being slowly emerged from the void, almost blending into its surroundings without making a sound.

"This is it, but it seems we're getting a bit late." Melbourne looked at the obvious hole in the cliff face, carefully sensed the surrounding atmosphere, and sighed helplessly.

It originally intended to conserve some divine power and rely on its own spiritual perception to detect Shen Bailian's location.

result.

Melbourne's discovery seems a bit too naive. The entire No. 98 Cave Heaven Small World covers a total area of ​​100 million square kilometers. While Shen Bailian is easier to deal with than Yuwen Changkong, it also means that the former's battles are relatively less disruptive.

Trying to find a late-stage Transcendent Realm martial artist in such a vast area using spiritual perception is like finding a needle in a haystack.

So after failing to find anything, they directly used divine power to investigate, which immediately increased their efficiency.

In less than a second, it successfully located Shen Bailian's exact position and then rushed over without stopping.

"Hmm?" Melbourne sensed the surrounding atmosphere and recognized its kind, though weaker. It then moved slightly and within seconds moved to the location where Shen Bailian and the three divine favored beings were fighting.

“Souls from the past, heed the Lord’s call… On behalf of the Lord, issue a divine decree, arise!” Melbourne calmed down, his whole body radiating golden light, and he kept whispering in his sleep.

But only for a short while.

As if time had reversed, the bloodstains on the ground continued to shrink, and the mid-level secondary divine favored one, whose strength had reached the peak of the second tier and had been blasted apart by Shen Bailian, began to regain its vitality.

"Thank you for your grace, my lord." After his resurrection, the second-tier peak mid-level divine favored one immediately suppressed his joy and knelt on one knee towards Melbourne to show his respect.

"It's nothing." Melbourne said coldly, "Tell me properly how you, a second-tier peak mid-level divine favored one, were killed."

"During the course of my mission, I encountered a martial arts prodigy from the human race. Intrigued, I..."

Before it could finish speaking, it was interrupted by Melbourne.

"Is this the person?" As he spoke, Melbourne used his divine power to materialize the information and appearance of Shen Bailian that Ram had sent him from his mind into the outside world.

"Yes, that's the person." The mid-level lesser divine favored one looked at the handsome young man in the air, who exuded a sharp aura, and answered with certainty.

It was all too familiar with that face.

"My two men and I encountered this powerful figure, which is why..."

Its words were interrupted again.

"Pong!"

With a deafening roar that pierced the air, a golden chain, imbued with the power of thunder, lashed violently at the body of the mid-level lesser divine favored one.

It immediately began to howl in pain.

Mind Chains is a unique skill of gods of lesser or higher rank, used specifically to punish subordinates. It can not only lash out at their bodies but also damage their minds.

Extremely vicious!

"Useless! Three useless people!"

"I used such precious divine power to revive you, you piece of trash, and you can't even complete such a simple task. Two late-stage second-tier beings and one peak second-tier being completely crushed by a 17-year-old boy."

"What a shame!"

“If this were before, I would have reported to Lord Ram and had you thrown into the eighteenth level of hell to suffer for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years.” Melbourne’s voice was extremely cold, and his eyes were filled with rage.

It continuously wielded the mind chains in its hands, leaving behind terrifying, visible scars on its body and mind.

If other divine lineages were to find out about this, their lineage would be ridiculed to death. In such a situation, they might even be devoured by other divine lineages and become provisions for others.

The mid-level secondary divine favored one was covered in blood, but he stubbornly refused to cry out.

"My lord, this time it was indeed our mistake." The mid-level lesser god's favorite endured the pain, mustered a little strength, gritted his teeth, and shook the air: "But we did not come away empty-handed. That kid's physical attributes are probably not just level 19.1."

"Heh~" Upon hearing this, Melbourne immediately let out a vicious sneer, then his expression turned serious. He dragged the man close to him and said in a sinister tone, "Who do you think gave me this information?"

"Lord Ram, are you questioning Lord Ram now?"

"No, I... I dare not." The pupils of the Lesser-Mid-Rank Divine Favored one suddenly contracted, and he hurriedly shook his head, denying his previous statement.

"What's your name?" Melbourne continued, seemingly casually.

"My name is"

However, before the Lesser-Middle-Rank Divine Favored One could finish speaking, he was interrupted again.

As the saying goes, once is enough, twice is too much, but a third time is not. The strength of that mid-level secondary god's favorite is the same as Melbourne's current strength, both being at the peak of the second tier.

However, the lesser mid-level divine favored one did not even show the slightest sign of anger.

Because the gods had existed for millions of years before their fall, the hierarchy within the divine fold was extremely strict.

The lesser high-ranking divine favored can issue commands to all lesser mid-ranking divine favored and below, and without any conditions.

This became even more evident after the fall of the gods.

When the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king. This thrill of power even led some of the gods to harbor disloyal and inappropriate thoughts.

But only a very small number of them.

“I don’t care what your name was before.” A hint of mockery flashed in Melbourne’s eyes. It loved seeing its prey angry but not daring to be angry. “But from now on, your name will be Trash.”

"Any comments?"

"This subordinate dares not have any objections." Upon hearing this, the mid-level lesser divine favored one paused for a moment, then immediately lowered his eyes and answered while enduring the excruciating pain:
"I am grateful for your revival, but I beg you to give me a chance to redeem myself. I am very familiar with that boy and I am sure I can provide you with considerable assistance."

Then, it quickly recounted the entire battle, looking at Melbourne with a mixture of longing and fear.

"Double the single-arm maximum punching power, and the fourth level of martial arts skill is impressive. You truly deserve to be called a top martial arts prodigy at the age of 17." A cold glint flashed in Melbourne's eyes: "You've finally made a difference."

"You want to help me capture Shen Bailian?"

"Yes, your subordinate is willing to go through fire and water for you, sir, without hesitation." The mid-level secondary divine favorite seemed to have seen a glimmer of hope and immediately nodded.

"I have a better suggestion."

“Let’s use the Unity Technique, with me as the master, so I can advance to the third rank.” Melbourne’s face rarely showed a smile, but he said coldly, “Once we arrest Shen Bailian, I will definitely mention you to Lord Ram, and we will escape together.”

"I suppose you won't refuse, 'good-for-nothing'?"

boom!
As if frozen into eternal ice, the lesser mid-level god's favored one felt utterly desolate; the thing it feared most had finally come to pass.

How can you spit out meat that's already in your mouth?
joke!

However, given this format and the strict hierarchy within the Divine Favor, the useless person had absolutely no reason to refuse.

"I hope Lord Melbourne will keep his promise." The lesser mid-level god's favorite prayed silently for a moment, and then agreed to Melbourne's unreasonable request.

(End of this chapter)