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Chapter 211 Golden Body Perfected!! The Ghost Festival refers to the Ghost of Fate!? (2 words, update 35)

Deep within the blessed land of Longyuan Pavilion.

A quiet room constructed entirely of dark basalt.

The air was almost stagnant, filled with a peculiar smell that mixed the crispness of grass and trees, the sweet and pungent smell of rust, and a faint earthy odor.

Fang Qingyu sat cross-legged, shirtless.

On his bronze skin were the lava gold patterns of the Extinction Transformation Body, the Vajra Sanskrit of the Immovable King Skill, and the Thunder Cloud Seal of the Thunder Drum Heavenly Sound Body.

Three distinct yet incomparably powerful marks of hard skills complement each other.

It emanates a breathtaking, powerful glow.

Several materials were placed in front of Fang Qingyu.

A section of bamboo about the thickness of an arm, its entire body a jade-green hue, with naturally formed silver star-like spots on its surface, and faint pulsations of blue light flowing within its body.

A bowl of blood and essence from a certain turtle, thick as mercury, dark golden in color, constantly steaming with a rusty, sweet, and pungent heat.

A few thin, hair-like tendrils, yet gleaming with a metallic glint, were exceptionally resilient.

And a handful of fine, dust-like stardust, sparkling with pale blue starlight, yet smooth and warm to the touch.

These are precisely the materials needed to perfect the Great Sun level hard skill, the Bamboo Shadow Tempering Body Manual.

Fang Qingyu took a deep breath.

According to the secret method, he slowly extended both palms, and the crimson tribulation fire in his palms silently ignited, enveloping the section of star-patterned black bamboo.

laugh--!
The turquoise bamboo stalks softened rapidly in the crimson flames, writhing like living things and releasing a viscous turquoise jade-like substance.

Fang Qingyu's fingers flew across the surface as he evenly applied the jade marrow to every inch of his skin.

A chilling sensation spread instantly, as if countless tiny ice needles were piercing the pores, creating a strange resonance with the blood and qi under the skin, and the muscles and bones.

Immediately afterwards, he picked up the bowl of dark golden Xuan Turtle essence blood and drank it down without hesitation.

boom!
The essence and blood entered his throat, like swallowing a mouthful of molten lava!

The violent and scorching essence of blood and qi exploded instantly within the body, carrying a heavy, long-lasting, and ancient ferocious aura, frantically impacting the limbs and bones!

Fang Qingyu groaned, and the azure jade marrow smeared on his body was instantly activated by the scorching blood and qi, turning into countless fine azure streams of light that pierced deep into his flesh and bones like tough bamboo roots, greedily absorbing this violent energy.

Enduring the excruciating pain, he swiftly grabbed the few thousand-year-old golden vines with lightning speed, and the Crimson Blaze of Calamity rose once more.

The golden vines quickly transformed into liquid golden threads in the flames. As Fang Qingyu's hands moved swiftly, they were precisely imprinted on the key points where the blue light converged on the skin's surface, like the most exquisite embroidery.

Chi Chi Chi -!
Where the golden threads were branded, the skin emitted a sound like a branding iron burning.

An even stronger tearing sensation came, as if his body was being forcibly cut and reassembled according to some mysterious array!
Fang Qingyu's forehead veins bulged, and he was sweating profusely, which was instantly evaporated by the high temperature on his body surface.

last step!
Grabbing the handful of warm star marrow sand, he clasped his hands together, and the Crimson Tribulation Flame erupted, instantly melting the star marrow sand into a ball of dark blue liquid starfire.

Then, he slammed both palms, carrying the spark, onto his chest!
Om-! ! !
The ghostly blue starlight instantly merged into his body!

Like countless cold stars exploding within his body, carrying a profound, desolate, and boundless will.

Cold and scorching, vitality and desolation, resilience and sharpness!
Several distinct forces collided, intertwined, and merged wildly within Fang Qingyu's body!
Fang Qingyu's body seemed to have turned into a huge furnace.

The tenacious vitality of the Star-Spotted Bamboo, the boundless energy of the Black Tortoise's essence, the sharp cutting edge of the Golden Thread Vine, and the vast and desolate Star Marrow Sand.

Under the tempering of the Crimson Blaze and the guidance of the secret technique of "Bamboo Shadow Tempering Manual", they were forcibly fused into one!
On the surface of his skin, cyan, gold, and blue light swirled wildly, eventually transforming into a strange cocoon of light that was as clear as glass and as swaying as bamboo shadows, completely enveloping Fang Qingyu.

Inside the cocoon of light, Fang Qingyu could clearly feel that his skin, muscles, and bones were undergoing an unprecedented transformation.

Each breath was accompanied by a dense, crackling sound, like raindrops pattering on banana leaves.

That's the sound of bones becoming denser and stronger.

Muscle fibers are forcibly stretched, compressed, and reorganized, becoming more flexible, like steel wire that has been forged through countless hammer blows, containing explosive power.

The membrane is endowed with the resilience of bamboo, the sharpness of gold, and the vastness of stars, with its defensive power layered upon layer, approaching a superhuman level.

"It's now!"

Fang Qingyu's eyes flashed with a sharp light!
He focused his mind on the diagram, locking onto the option of "Bamboo Shadow Tempering Technique," and unhesitatingly invested his precious skill points!

Om-! ! !
Inside the quiet room, the cyan-gold light cocoon enveloping Fang Qingyu suddenly shone brightly!
Countless clear bamboo shadows were projected from the cocoon of light, swaying gracefully on the walls of the quiet room.

Each bamboo shadow is incredibly resilient, shifting between reality and illusion, as if containing the ever-renewing natural rhythm.

The cocoon of light suddenly contracted inward, as if swallowed by a black hole, and instantly disappeared into Fang Qingyu's body!
Next!

Fang Qingyu's body seemed to transform into a divine bamboo rooted in the void!

The skin has a warm, jade-like deep blue color, and its surface naturally shows fine and mysterious bamboo-like textures.

A powerful, resilient, and ever-renewing aura suddenly spread out!
Fang Qingyu slowly raised his arm, his mind stirring slightly.

hum!
The bamboo-like texture beneath the skin of the arm instantly glowed, and the entire arm became translucent in an instant, as if composed of pure cyan light and shadow, elusive and unpredictable!
Congratulations! Your advanced skill "Bamboo Shadow Tempering Technique" has reached Lv.5 (Max)!

[Golden Body: 46→51!]

The Bamboo Shadow Tempering Technique, Perfected!

His body transformed into bamboo shadows, his mind controlled the interplay of reality and illusion, and his physical strength surged once again!

The Golden Body Value has broken through the 50-point mark for the first time!
Feeling an unprecedented surge of resilient power coursing through his body, Fang Qingyu slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, which carried specks of azure-gold starlight.

His gaze then swept over the [map].

At this moment, the icons of the four Great Sun-level hard skills shone brightly in the skill bar, like four dazzling stars.

【Thunder Drum Heavenly Sound Body Lv.5 (MAX)】

【Ember Transformation Body Lv.5 (MAX)】

【Acala's Skill Lv.5 (MAX)】

【Bamboo Shadow Tempering Technique Lv.5 (MAX)】

Behind the four icons of perfect hard skills, a golden fusion mark, resembling four interlocking gears, exudes a strong attraction!

"coming!"

Fang Qingyu's eyes flashed with a mixture of lightning and fire, carrying a hint of anticipation and determination.

His will was like a rock, firmly nailed to that golden fusion mark!
[Four hard skills of the same level have been detected as fully mastered. Consume skill points to attempt the ultimate fusion deduction?]

confirm!

Om-! ! !
The moment his mind confirmed it, Fang Qingyu's body, which was sitting cross-legged, suddenly trembled!
The quiet room seemed to be instantly transported into four completely different worlds!

On the left side, dark purple lightning suddenly appeared, and countless phantom drums made of pure lightning floated in the void. Lightning patterns leaped on the drum surfaces, emitting a deep and soul-stirring drumbeat!
The thunderous sound of the heavenly drum reverberated through my bones!

On the right side, dark golden flames silently ignited, transforming into a raging sea of ​​destructive fire. In the center of the sea of ​​fire, a blurry furnace-like phantom slowly rotated!

The ashes, annihilation, transformation, and melting of the skin membrane!

Ahead, a colossal phantom of Buddha, composed entirely of dazzling platinum light, with a solemn and dignified appearance, holding a vajra, and surrounded by the mantra of Acala, hovered in the void!

Fudo Myo-o suppresses qi and blood, preserving the original source!
Behind them, in a deep and dark starry sky, countless resilient cyan bamboo phantoms took root in the void, swaying gracefully, their shadows radiating a vast and boundless vitality.

Bamboo shadows temper the body, connecting with heaven and earth, endowing it with immortal resilience!
Four illusory figures, each representing a different level of mastery of martial arts, completely surrounded Fang Qingyu.

What followed was an unprecedented and intense attempt at collision and fusion!

boom! boom! boom! boom!
The thunderous drumbeats attempted to shake the bamboo shadows, but were completely neutralized by the tenacious vitality.

The raging flames of the world-burning calamity sought to forge the golden body of the Bright King, but were firmly blocked by the unmoving will.

The King of Light smashed his golden pestle against the thunder drum, stirring up a sky full of thunder and fire.

The resilient bamboo shadows coiled around the raging flames, attempting to bind them, but instead crackled and popped as they were burned.

Failure! Rejection!
Each collision brought a double shock to both the body and mind, as if the soul was about to be torn to pieces by these four violent forces.

Fang Qingyu sat upright in the eye of the storm, his jaw clenched, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Under the frenzied assault of gold, red, blue, and purple light, his skin was covered with fine cracks, as if it would completely collapse at any moment!
But his eyes were like unyielding ice, desperately guarding a sliver of clarity in his mind.

When the Crimson Bright Nine Revolutions Jade Scripture was pushed to its limit, its Qi and blood transformed into a furnace, forcibly stabilizing the body that was on the verge of collapse.

The Nine Heavens Primordial Chaos Visualization Method was activated at full power, and the Five Elements Rotation Force transformed into an invisible bridge, frantically analyzing and capturing the fragments of laws remaining after each collision and annihilation.

"The thunderous drums resonate, refining its impurities and strengthening its bones!" "The fiery tribulations forge its form, melting its physical structure and forging its indestructibility!"

"The enlightened king remains unmoved, thus establishing his fundamental nature and consolidating his essence!"

"Bamboo shadows against the starry sky, embracing its vastness and endowing it with resilience!"

"The four elements revolve, and all eons return to one."

Countless insights surged, collided, and reassembled amidst the excruciating pain!
After an unknown period of time, and after countless failures and annihilation...
The four illusory, violent forces finally ceased their mutual attacks and repulsion.

They seemed to have found some delicate balance point, and began to slowly collapse inward and rotate!

Rumble, rumble—! ! !
A massive vortex, formed by the frenzied interplay of gold, crimson, cyan, and purple light, suddenly materialized above Fang Qingyu's head!

At the center of the vortex, the faint roars of dragons and elephants, the burning of the world by a furnace, the chanting of sutras by a wise king, and the swaying of a bamboo forest—these magnificent phenomena appear alternately!

finally!
The four colors of light completely merged into one!

It transformed into a thick, ancient, and restrained pillar of light, which crashed down from the center of the vortex and completely engulfed Fang Qingyu.

In the beam of light.

Fang Qingyu's body was like divine iron thrown into the furnace of heaven and earth, undergoing the final tempering and refining.

[Golden Body: 51→576471]

The golden body attribute is now skyrocketing!!

And it's a huge jump of several points at a time!!

All the discolored lines on the skin disappeared, replaced by a natural bronze color.

The muscles are smooth and restrained, no longer bulging, yet they contain a terrifying power capable of shaking mountains.

Deep within the bones, a deep, resonant echo of dragons and elephants roaring together could be faintly heard.

As the blood flowed, it felt as if a furnace of calamity was burning and tempering it.

The internal organs were enveloped in a layer of light.

An indescribable, majestic aura, imbued with an ancient charm, slowly awakened within Fang Qingyu.

[Congratulations! Fusion successful! You have mastered the core skill "Nine Tribulations Body" Lv.1 (0/1000)!]

The beam of light slowly dissipated.

Fang Qingyu slowly opened his eyes.

Deep within his pupils, a fleeting vision appeared: a river of stars swirling, a furnace rising and falling, a wise king presiding over the scene, and a bamboo forest swaying.

Looking down at his bronze palms, he slowly closed his fingers.

It did not stimulate any Qi or blood, nor activate any hard skills.

The moment the five fingers came together, the air in the palm crackled and popped under the strain, bursting open!

Beneath the skin, flesh, bones, and muscles resemble the most intricate celestial sphere.

It contains terrifying power sufficient to withstand a second-tier opponent and near-immortal resilience.

Look at the map.

This time, Fang Qingyu finally felt the bottleneck that blocked his physical body.
And, just as I had predicted.

[Golden Body: 99]

99 points is the upper limit for martial artists.
The improvement was much greater than I had imagined.

Before integrating martial arts techniques, he only had 51 points in Golden Body.

From this
To hone one's physical body to its ultimate limit during the martial artist stage is incredibly difficult.

Even mastering all four basic martial arts skills is far from enough.

There must be at least nine doors!

However, Fang Qingyu no longer needs to practice any new hard skills.

The enhancement after fusing martial arts techniques is just as terrifying as the previous swordsmanship; in fact, the combined boost from all four hard skills is far stronger than that from martial arts techniques alone!

"Nine Tribulations Body"

Fang Qingyu murmured the name of the new hard skill.

Feeling the unprecedented, immense power and almost impenetrable defense within his body, a satisfied smile slowly curved his lips.

This fused hard skill is no longer just a simple defensive measure.

Instead, he truly forged his physical body into a war fortress!
Pushing open the heavy stone door of the quiet room, the soft light from the training ground spilled out.

At the edge of the training field, Wei Banmeng and his friends had just finished a round of intense sparring and were sitting around a stone table in the rest area.

Jiang Wei sat next to her, holding a tablet, her face expressionless, her fingers swiping the screen.

Fang Qingyu walked over, drying his wet hair.

Chu Kuanglan, with the loudest voice, was chugging a special energy drink and complaining in a muffled voice: "It's like this every year. As soon as Ghost Festival arrives, it's like a hornet's nest has been stirred up! The spatial fluctuations are like fireworks, they just can't stop! I'm going to be busy as a dog again!"

Lu Jiuyuan wiped his longsword and sighed upon hearing this, his tone filled with helplessness: "There's nothing we can do. The spatial barrier is weakest during the Ghost Festival, so it's no wonder those things try to squeeze out at that time. We definitely won't have enough manpower then, and we'll probably have to be transferred out as well."

Even Wei Banmeng's usually aloof face showed a hint of seriousness as she nodded: "Yes, the higher-ups are probably already making contingency plans. This year's Ghost Festival will likely be more troublesome than in previous years."

"The Ghost Festival?" Fang Qingyu happened to walk over, casually draped a towel over his shoulder, and looked at Wei Banmeng with some confusion. "What's the matter?"

As soon as he said that, the area around the stone table fell silent.

Wei Banmeng and the other two turned to look at him in unison.

His eyes were filled with disbelief, as if he were looking at an alien.

Even Jiang Wei, who was swiping on a tablet next to her, raised her head, her clear eyes filled with a hint of speechlessness.

"You—" Wei Banmeng's usually cold face showed a rare look of astonishment, and her voice rose slightly, "You don't know about the Ghost Festival?!"

Chu Kuanglan nearly choked on his drink, coughing as he stared wide-eyed at Fang Shen: "Fang Shen! You...you don't actually think the Ghost Festival is just a legend, do you?!"

Lu Jiuyuan also put down the knife-wiping cloth, his face full of disbelief: "Fang Shen... before you joined the Hidden Dragon Project, didn't anyone tell you what the Ghost Festival meant in the extraordinary world?"

Fang Qingyu was taken aback by the three's reaction and frowned, saying, "What does it mean? Isn't it just the folk legend about heavy yin energy?"

Wei Banmeng took a deep breath, suppressing the absurdity in her heart, and explained in a very fast voice, "Every year on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, also known as the 'Ghost Festival,' during this period, the spatial barrier between the real world and the 'Abyss,' the filthy dimension where the ghosts of fate are born, becomes extremely weak and chaotic!"

Chu Kuanglan quickly added, "So weak that even without the life ghosts actively attacking, many places in the real world will experience spatial fluctuations of varying sizes without warning! Countless life ghosts will surge out of these fluctuations like flies attracted by blood! The scene is like a flood that has been released!"

Lu Jiuyuan said in a deep voice: "Therefore, the month before and after the Ghost Festival every year is the most tense and stressful period for all the supernatural forces in the Federation! The Bureau of Divine Management, the army, major martial arts schools, aristocratic families, including our Hidden Dragon Project personnel, as long as they are on the establishment, must accept unified command and rush to various outbreak points to wipe out the ghosts. The slightest carelessness will lead to a disaster!"

Seeing Fang Qingyu's still somewhat bewildered expression, Wei Banmeng continued, "That's why the Hidden Dragon Project always starts its selection process before the Ghost Festival. On one hand, it's to quickly replenish the team with fresh blood; on the other hand, the Ghost Festival itself is the most brutal and direct practical test and selection for newly recruited Hidden Dragon members!"

She paused, her tone carrying a deeper meaning: "Especially those three special groups, the first real test they face is often the most dangerous large-scale ghost tide that breaks out during the Ghost Festival. That's a true battlefield of hell! Only those who survive are truly recognized."

After listening to the three people's explanations, Fang Qingyu finally understood completely.

It turns out that the so-called Ghost Festival, in the extraordinary world, is actually an annual war alarm concerning the survival of the real world.

"I see."

Fang Qingyu nodded slowly, his expression becoming serious.

A massive invasion of life-destroying demons. The defenses of the real world. This is indeed much more complex and dangerous than usual.

"So, Fang Shen!" Chu Kuanglan slapped his thigh, "We need to hurry up and get ourselves into top shape! There will definitely be a tough battle ahead!"

Lu Jiuyuan nodded in agreement.

Just then, Jiang Wei, who had been quietly holding her tablet, raised her head, her clear eyes scanning the crowd before finally landing on Fang Qingyu.

Her small mouth opened slightly, and she uttered a calm yet earth-shattering statement:

"Actually, the most troublesome thing is..."

"I've never been a jinx."

(End of this chapter)