The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapter 154, page 169: Absorbing Extraordinary Power, Strength Greatly Increases! [I'm only doing this because I pity you, Alliance Leader, not because it's an extra chapter!]

In the mountains and forests.

Lu Chen only touched the ground with the balls of his feet, running wildly through the rugged forest.

Although he couldn't freely use his inner energy, his footsteps were still like those of a feline, only occasionally making a very slight rustling sound when he stepped on fallen leaves.

Soon, a cliff appeared ahead.

Without hesitation, Lu Chen leaped off the cliff, falling several feet. With his right hand, he lashed out at the cliff face with a claw. The pure external martial arts version of the Nine Yin Divine Claw embedded itself into the cliff wall with a crack, creating five deep fissures in the solid rock. As the debris flew, the downward momentum suddenly slowed.

He then pulled back and fell, dropping several more feet before grabbing the cliff face with his other hand to slow his fall.

After repeating this process several times, he soon landed safely at the bottom of the cliff, which was about thirty feet high.

Just as they were about to continue their raid.

The strange energy emanating from the lead box suddenly intensified and changed from extreme cold to extreme heat, making Lu Chen feel as if his blood was turning into lava and his entire body was about to be incinerated.

The sudden increase in the intensity of the strange energy radiation, and the abrupt transformation from extreme cold to extreme heat, caused Lu Chen's hand to tremble, almost causing him to drop the package.

"The radiation from the He Shi Bi jade changes cyclically every day, and it should be entering its strongest period today... Oh well, I'll just eat it. I need to control the pace of eating. The He Shi Bi jade should be able to recover on its own, it's too wasteful to eat it all at once. I should save some to share with my family. I'll eat most of it and leave a little bit. Sustainable, sustainable, and not exhausting the resources is the right approach..."

The surge in alien radiation had such a severe impact that Lu Chen found it difficult to move even without using his true energy.

He simply unwrapped the package, opened the lead box, and, braving the maddening heat, held up the He Shi Bi jade, which shone with a dazzling light like a small light bulb, and activated the energy absorption technique to actively absorb the He Shi Bi's unique power.

Something amazing happened.

When the extraordinary power of the He Shi Bi (a type of jade disc) surged into his left hand, it was still extremely intense, like a hot flow of magma.

But after circulating through his meridians and acupoints, when it returned to the He Shi Bi from his right hand, it turned into an extreme cold current.

The strange power that then surged in from the left hand turned into a cold current.

Thus, extreme heat and extreme cold continued to cycle. Whenever the strange power of the He Shi Bi (a legendary jade disc) surged in, Lu Chen's meridians and acupoints would expand as if they were being inflated.

In the original timeline, Xu Ziling, Kou Zhong, and Ba Feng Han worked together to make the He Shi Bi's power circulate repeatedly in their meridians, barely managing to withstand the onslaught of the power and preventing it from bursting out of their bodies due to the violent and unruly nature of the power.

Land subsidence is different.

He possessed extraordinary physical strength, had anticipated this situation, and was unaffected by the strange power of the He Shi Bi jade, giving him a stronger ability to take initiative than Kou, Xu, and Ba.

So when the strange force washed over him, his mind, which was completely unaffected, quickly activated the "Nine Transformations of Condensing Truth" technique he had just learned, actively consuming the strange force of the He Shi Bi to condense his acupoints.

The extraordinary power of the He Shi Bi jade already possesses the ability to alter acupoints and change meridians, and the method of refining acupoints complements the extraordinary power of the He Shi Bi jade perfectly.

Originally, refining acupoints required years of painstaking effort.

Qu Ao successfully condensed seven acupoints at the age of twenty-three, but it took him ten years to condense the eighth acupoint. After that, the process began to snowball, getting faster and faster, until he was forty-one years old when he successfully condensed all the acupoints and could control them all at will.

Lu Chenchu ​​obtained this method, and if he were to cultivate it on his own, it would take him quite a while to even begin to understand it.

But now, with the help of the He Shi Bi jade, the condensation of the acupoints is a natural and effortless process.

It took more than ten breaths to successfully condense the first acupoint at the beginning, but then it gradually snowballed and the speed became faster and faster. After condensing about ten acupoints, it began to break through unstoppable, and it could condense acupoint with each breath.

When condensing the acupoints.

Lu Chen felt that his "Heart Sword" cultivation was also constantly improving.

The extraordinary power of the He Shi Bi jade can cause strong mental disturbance, making people restless and even causing various hallucinations.

Since there are negative effects on the mind, as long as one can refine the alien power, it will naturally have a positive effect on the mind as well.

At this moment, as he continued to refine the alien power, even without actively visualizing it, the lightning-shaped "sword of the mind" deep within his mind was passively strengthening itself, becoming clearer and more solid.

Its range of perception continues to expand, from 17 feet to 20 feet, 23 feet, 27 feet, and 30 feet, and it is still expanding.

The power of the Heart Sword is not limited to "perception".

Or rather, perception is merely incidental; the true power of the Heart Sword lies in slaying emotions, erasing memories, and even slaying the inner demons of others and destroying their primordial spirit.

Although his Heart Sword cultivation has not yet reached that level, Lu Chen feels that his Heart Sword can already do more.

For example, interfering with others' spiritual perception and energy flow!
This is awesome.

The masters in the Twin Dragons world rely heavily on their spiritual perception.

Once affected, or if one's perception is suppressed by the enemy, extreme discomfort will occur.

This can even lead to situations where "you can clearly see the person, but it feels like they don't exist," a "blindness" that can seriously affect combat effectiveness.

With the help of the He Shi Bi's power, Lu Chen's Heart Sword cultivation expanded rapidly, and he began to have the ability to interfere with the spiritual perception of others!
Besides condensing acupoints and enhancing mental strength, Lu Chen's meridians also became more spacious and resilient through repeated alternations of extreme cold and heat.

The acupoints have transformed from "ponds" into "deep pools," and the meridians have expanded from "water channels" into "canals."

While this "alteration of acupoints and meridians" will not immediately boost Lu Chen's power and allow him to reach the pinnacle of skill, the increased strength of his meridians and acupoints will multiply his ability to transport true energy several times over. This will not only greatly increase his cultivation efficiency but also significantly boost the output power of his techniques and the speed of true energy recovery during actual combat.

Not only that.

As Lu Chen's cultivation of the Heart Sword grew stronger, he gradually became able to "multitask," continuing to refine his acupoints while simultaneously tempering his muscles and bones.

The alternating hot and cold forces of the He Shi Bi sword did indeed have a significant effect on tempering the sword's body.

Soon, under the impact of the strange force, he completely tempered his right arm to perfection, and then began to temper his left arm.

Even if he were to start training on his own, it would normally take at least one or two months to fully refine his left arm. Yet, he had already successfully refined it in a short time.

Thus, his arms had both been "strengthened and bones trained" to perfection. Not only were they impervious to divine weapons and his strength increased dramatically, but the power of his various unarmed skills also increased by 70%!

Afterwards, Lu Chen continued to temper his shoulders and neck, and soon succeeded in tempering them.

However, just as he was about to press on, he suddenly noticed that the brilliant light of the He Shi Bi jade was beginning to dim, and the incoming strange power was also weakening.

Lu Chen knew that the He Shi Bi was nearing its limit.

Although he was currently enjoying the power of the He Shi Bi alone, he was doing too many things: altering acupoints and meridians, condensing acupoints, enhancing the heart sword, and tempering the sword body. Naturally, the consumption was far greater than that of simply altering acupoints and meridians.

If all the supernatural power is absorbed, leaving not a single seed, then the He Shi Bi jade will turn into powder and disappear completely.

Lu Chen would not allow such a rare treasure to disappear.

If one didn't possess some special ability to be "stuck" by the He Shi Bi jade, the ordeal wouldn't end until all the alien energy was drained.

However, Lu Chen had already successfully condensed all the acupoints in his body, and his arms, shoulders, and neck had also achieved great success in "refining his muscles and bones." His mental sword cultivation had surged again, and his control over himself had reached a new level. He immediately activated his sword qi, and extremely sharp qi surged out from the acupoints in his hands. Under the precise control of his surging mental cultivation, he precisely severed the torrent of strange power from the He Shi Bi jade, like a butcher dissecting an ox. The instant he severed the strange power of the He Shi Bi jade from his hands...

The He Shi Bi jade, having consumed most of its supernatural power, suddenly dimmed its brilliance, and its supernatural power went dormant.

At the same time, the starlight and moonlight surrounding the He Shi Bi jade also dimmed, as if they were absorbed by the jade.

"As expected, it can absorb some kind of energy and automatically recover!"

The He Shi Bi jade in the Twin Dragons world seems to have come from the cosmos, arriving on Earth with a meteorite from outer space.

So perhaps the He Shi Bi was absorbing some kind of mysterious energy from the universe at this time?
It doesn't matter, as long as it's sustainable and doesn't exploit resources to the point of exhaustion.

However, the He Shi Bi could not possibly be restored to its original state in a short time, so there was no need to rush. Lu Chen placed the He Shi Bi into a lead box and closed the lid.

This time, there was no leakage of any strange power; it seemed to be just an ordinary lead box.

Lu Chen wrapped the lead box, slung it over his shoulder, stood up, and looked around. He saw that the surrounding mountains and forests had become as bright as day.

Even though he didn't use his inner energy to enhance his eyes, he could see the night sky as if it were daytime just by observing with his naked eyes!
Furthermore, the colors of things observed with the naked eye are more vivid, and the changes in light and dark are more three-dimensional and richer.

Expanding his spiritual senses again, he discovered that his spiritual perception had expanded to a radius of 36 feet.

Within a radius of three zhang and six chi, even the slightest movement of the air, and the finest dust particles floating in it, are reflected in the mind.

With a thought, Lu Chen felt a slight tremor in his mind. The mental sword that resembled a real lightning bolt trembled slightly, and a spiritual force emanated from him, spreading around him and covering his entire body.

Under the cover of his spiritual power, the enemy's spiritual perception and aura sensing will be severely interfered with. Even if they are not blinded, they will no longer be able to easily deal with his moves by following the aura.

Feel the change in the mind and sword.

Lu Chen then raised his index and middle fingers together, pointed with his sword finger, and a sword aura shot out, flying straight to a distance of ten zhang, where it blasted a large rock, half the height of a person, into dust with a loud bang.

With the improvement of his Heart Sword cultivation, he can now multitask.

Once all the acupoints in the body are successfully condensed, multiple types of force can be activated simultaneously.

Therefore, when he uses the "Yin-Yang Twin Flying Swords" again, he no longer needs to release two sword energies of different attributes one after the other. Instead, he can use a single sword energy that combines Yin and Yang, intertwining with each other to deal explosive damage.

Besides.

With a thought, Lu Chen activated the acupoints on his head (Tianling), between his eyebrows (Yintang), between his eyes (Ming), on his shoulders (Jianjing), on his chest (Shanzhong), on his lower abdomen (Qihai), and on his back (Mingmen)...

Each acupoint emitted sword energy in turn. Although its power was 70% weaker than the finger-launched sword energy amplified by the "Qilin Arm" of the sword body, it still had the ability to cut through gold and jade.

This is the result of "Nine Transformations of Condensed Truth": all acupoints on the body can be used as hubs for generating power and stimulating true qi.

In Lu Chen's case, every acupoint can unleash sword energy at will—"Ten Directions Annihilation" can also unleash sword energy from all the acupoints in the body, but "Ten Directions Annihilation" is difficult to control. Once activated, one must completely empty one's true energy before it ends. It is a deadly move that should not be used lightly unless absolutely necessary.

At this moment, Lu Chen was able to unleash sword energy through the acupoints throughout his body.

Although at most seven acupoints can unleash sword energy simultaneously, he can at least control it freely. No matter which acupoint he wants to use to unleash sword energy, it is under his control and will not uncontrollably deplete all true energy in one go.

In this way, Lu Chen became like a hedgehog, and no matter which direction the enemy attacked him from, he would suffer unexpected sword energy counterattacks.

"The sword body also has 'acupoints for refining energy.' I am now using the Nine Transformations of Condensing True Qi to refine acupoints, which can be considered as laying a good foundation for the sword body's acupoints for refining energy in advance!"

The Nine Transformations of Condensing True Qi can only refine the acupoints into power hubs, enabling them to generate true energy, but it cannot generate true qi, nor can it store true qi for a long time; it can only contain it temporarily.

While this makes the use of true qi and the changes in moves more flexible, it does not mean that the whole body is a dantian, and the power cannot be accumulated to an abyss or an endless sea.

However, the acupoints and meridians of the sword body can be refined.

However, Lu Chen has only reached the stage of "refining muscles and bones" and is still a long way from "refining acupoints" in the sword body.

I experimented with the meridians, acupoints, and spiritual aspects and gained some insights.

Lu Chen suddenly leaped up.

This time, he activated his true energy and soared into the sky, reaching a height of thirteen or fourteen zhang.

Then, true energy erupted from his acupoints one after another, propelling his body to slowly circle in the air. He circled back and forth three times, dropping about three zhang in height, before gliding away into the distance.

He continuously emitted short bursts of true energy from the acupoints on his back and feet, generating propulsion that allowed him to glide forty or fifty feet before finally landing gracefully.

Their flying ability has clearly surpassed Qu Ao's!

This is also natural.

He had consumed most of the He Shi Bi's extraordinary power. With the help of the He Shi Bi's power to change acupoints and meridians, even though his acupoints had only been successfully refined today, the ability of his acupoints to generate true energy far surpassed that of Qu Ao.

Flying is a dream that everyone has had since childhood.

Lu Chen was no exception.

Even though it couldn't be considered flying yet, but just gliding, he was having a great time, leaping high into the air and gliding through the air.

As the control became more and more proficient, the gliding distance also increased.

The farthest he ever flew was more than seventy zhang (approximately 33 meters) in one breath, thanks to the wind.

After playing it about ten times, Lu Chen felt that his true energy was being depleted.

Although his true energy recovery speed has increased several times over, it is still a bit unsafe to keep squandering it, so he stopped and flew back to Luoyang City.

He had originally considered sending the He Shi Bi to the Legend of the Condor Heroes or the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils world to slowly restore it, but then he thought, where would a low-level martial arts world get such mysterious and special energy as the Twin Dragons world?
In the low-level martial arts world, the He Shi Bi jade is just an ordinary piece of jade from Earth.

Bringing the He Shi Bi to a low-level martial arts world would likely only deplete its power and turn it into dust.

Therefore, it still needs to be restored in the Twin Dragons world.

Upon returning to Luoyang, Lu Chen did not visit Manqing Courtyard again, but went straight back to his residence.

As soon as he stepped into the main house in the central courtyard, his heightened spiritual awareness made him sense something was amiss.

There was a familiar scent in the upstairs bedroom, and it seemed a little unstable, as if the person was injured.

Lu Chen was speechless. He went to the bedroom, passed through the small hallway, lifted the curtain and looked into the bedroom. Sure enough, he saw Wan Yaonu sitting on his bed, swinging her delicate, crystal-clear feet. Her lips were slightly upturned, and she was smiling at him. However, her face was pale, and even her lips had lost some color.

[An extra chapter for the Alliance Leader's line, "I only loved you because I pitied you, not because I liked you!"]

(End of this chapter)