A glimpse of opportunity: Start by marrying a mermaid bride.

Zheng Xuan stood by the river, holding the spirit fish in his hand, and instructed Erdan and the three water ghosts to go and find more spirit fish. You can never have too many spirit fish.

Upon receiving the order, the three water ghosts, including Erdan, immediately dived into the water and disappeared a moment later.

Zheng Xuan took the spirit fish ashore, and when he checked the time, it was already late at night, but he couldn't wait any longer.

He and Chen Shouyi had already found out how to cook the spirit fish; it simply needed to be stewed in water.

It doesn't even need to be paired with any medicinal herbs. Of course, this doesn't mean that pairing with medicinal herbs is wrong. It's just that the medicinal properties of the spirit fish itself are difficult for ordinary people to discern. Only pharmacists with medical skills can discern them.

Only after the pharmacist identifies the properties of the medicine can the herbs be combined to enhance its efficacy.

If you combine other medicinal herbs without understanding their properties, and their effects clash, it's better to just boil them in water without adding any salt.

This at least ensures the purity of the medicinal properties.

The reason why the medicinal properties are difficult to discern is actually related to the spirit fish itself. The spirit fish is not born directly from the mother fish.

The mother of a spirit fish may just be an ordinary fish; most spirit fish are born from mutation.

For example, the mullet in Zheng Xuan's hand is actually a mutated mullet. Because each fish is different, its medicinal properties are often not consistent, so it cannot be cooked with medicinal herbs at will.

When Zheng Xuan returned to the village, he didn't go straight home. The fisherwomen were all asleep, and Zheng Xuan didn't want to disturb them. Besides, although Abe didn't show any malice, he was still an outsider. Now was a crucial time for Zheng Xuan's martial arts breakthrough, and he didn't trust anyone.

Zheng Xuan arrived at Li Jitong's old house. The house was usually uninhabited, but it was not in a mess. The fisherwoman would come and tidy it up every day when she had time.

Zheng Xuan entered the house, found an old earthenware pot, washed it clean with water, and began to simmer soup.

The spirit fish was precious, weighing over a pound. Zheng Xuan didn't even dare to remove its internal organs; he put it directly into the pot to cook until the soup turned white.

Zheng Xuan took the spoon and started drinking from the clay pot.

I thought the fish would be very fishy if its internal organs weren't removed, but it wasn't. The soup only had a fresh and sweet taste, and even without salt, it was a delicacy.

Zheng Xuan ate even the fish bones, not wanting to waste a single bit of the fish.

What if there's medicinal value in these fish bones?

After finishing the fish, Zheng Xuan felt his whole body getting warm. The next moment, Zheng Xuan got up and started practicing his boxing in the yard.

As he performed Bajiquan again and again, the medicinal power was gradually absorbed. With the absorption of the medicinal power, Zheng Xuan felt as if the shackles in his body had been unlocked.

The martial arts gap between Ming Jin and An Jin no longer seemed so distant at this moment, and Zheng Xuan felt that he was taking big strides toward An Jin.

Once, twice.

Zheng Xuan practiced boxing all night without sleep, and the sweat on his body dripped onto the ground like oil droplets.

Finally, at the break of sunrise, Zheng Xuan threw his last punch.

crackling sounds...

Suddenly, a series of crackling sounds rang out from his body, as if the bones and tendons inside his body were making a popping sound. His muscles and bones resonated together, and his internal strength was forming!

Martial arts advancement!

Martial Artist Sequence Eight: Dark Force Martial Artist.

Zheng Xuan examined himself and felt much lighter. When he clenched his fist, he felt his strength had increased to a new level.

Even without using sequence abilities, I should be able to defeat a Ming Jin martial artist who uses sequence abilities.

This is the power of hidden strength; its basic values ​​already far surpass those of visible strength.

Zheng Xuan pondered this, then checked the skill he was most concerned about after the sequence upgrade—[Penetrating Bone Strength].

Penetrating Bone Force: When activated, this force ignores 50% of the opponent's physical defense, penetrating their armor and striking their vulnerable flesh.

Armor penetration?

As Zheng Xuan looked at the description of the Bone-Penetrating Force, the word "armor-piercing" automatically formed in his mind.

That's right, it's armor penetration. This skill is amazing. You know, while Ming Jin is strong, it can be quite troublesome against some martial artists who practice external strength, such as those with Golden Bell Cover or Iron Shirt.

Even with his own [Stacked Force] Triple Heavenly Cannon, it's easy for him to injure himself against such an opponent.

But now, with this [Bone-Penetrating Force], it can bypass his powerful external skills and directly attack the opponent's internal abdomen, more than doubling its power.

Moreover, this is only used alone. What if stacking force and penetrating force are used together?

How powerful must my own Triple Sky-Piercing Cannon be?

Ignoring defense, a triple punch—just thinking about it is exciting!

This boost in strength was more than double! And Zheng Xuan's surprise wasn't over yet. Just as Zheng Xuan was activating his stacked energy, preparing to practice his ultimate move, the Triple Heavenly Cannon.

Suddenly he realized something was wrong; after stacking three layers of force, he still had energy left over.

If you have spare capacity, doesn't that mean...?

Zheng Xuan's eyes lit up. He should be able to continue stacking. With that thought, Zheng Xuan immediately started stacking again, one layer, two layers, three layers, four layers.

Quadruple Sky-Piercing Cannon!

Boom! Zheng Xuan punched the tree stump, and the next moment, with a loud bang, the tree stump exploded.

Zheng Xuan looked at his fist and felt that he could definitely kill a bull with one punch.

Moreover, when Zheng Xuan used the quadruple Heaven-Piercing Cannon just now, it felt like he still had some energy left. Could he stack it into a fifth layer?

Zheng Xuan thought about it, but after practicing several times, he still couldn't get it to work.

Zheng Xuan summarized that at the level of martial artist sequence eight, it should be possible to stack five levels, but he may have just broken through and his foundation is not solid, so he cannot stack five levels yet.

However, with the Fourfold Heaven-Piercing Cannon and the Bone-Piercing Force, he should be able to make it into the top four and win the title of Martial Arts Scholar.

Thinking of this, Zheng Xuan felt much more at ease. No matter what, he had already made his mark among the younger generation. Now, all he had to do was prepare well for the final competition and help Master Song win the martial arts scholar title.

Zheng Xuan thought for a moment, then got up. He felt sticky all over. In the past, he had broken through in the water, but this time on land, he felt as if a lot of dirty stuff in his body had been brought out after the breakthrough.

Zheng Xuan went to the riverbank and took a good bath. After returning home, the fisherwoman prepared breakfast.

Abe had been staring at Zheng Xuan ever since he came in, and only asked during dinner, "Your energy seems to have increased."

Zheng Xuan smiled but didn't reply, and the fisherwoman didn't ask any further questions. After breakfast, Zheng Xuan had a good, restful sleep, washing away all his fatigue.

Nothing happened that day. The next morning, Zheng Xuan took the fisherwoman to the Dragon King Temple to get a peace charm for her. Then he walked into the city and headed straight for the old town's drill ground, where he had arranged to meet Song Jin'ao and the others.

When they arrived at the drill ground, Song Jin'ao and his group were already there.

Zheng Xuan joined them and then entered the final arena.