Chapter 488: Improving Strength, Three Distinct Forms (1)

The three major gangs were making every effort to tend to their wounded. The remnants of the two great families had fled like stray dogs after paying a tremendous price. Li Xiaofei returned to Haisha Gang headquarters and immediately went into seclusion.

The three-day cooldown had just expired, so Li Xiaofei entered the Secret Time Pavilion and began his accelerated cultivation. The experience of pulling out the green hair and feeling his body fill with invisible sword qi had provided him with great enlightenment. He needed to quickly organize the insights he’d gained from the battle.

With green hair infused with sword qi, I can slay Saints as easily as chickens. Without it, I’m nothing more than a chicken myself. There are far too many experts in Haijing City.

My current strength probably wouldn’t even rank in the top fifty. I can’t always rely on shortcuts. I need to improve my own strength as quickly as possible.

Li Xiaofei reflected deeply in his heart. It wasn’t that his cultivation speed was too slow. Rather, it was because he had become involved in national affairs far too quickly. Such matters should have been handled by influential figures. Yet the burden had fallen squarely on his shoulders.

If Li Xiaofei truly had the strength to slaughter Saints, he wouldn’t have needed to consume a second green hair to slay the two great families. Nor would he have wasted so much time arguing and posturing.

If Kong Weilan, a quasi-Saint, had had the courage and determination to draw his sword, Li Xiaofei might have ended up pulling another strand of green hair.

However, sparing Kong Weilan wasn’t a bad decision. After all, he was a genuine martial arts prodigy. A quasi-Saint at the age of thirty was exceedingly rare. He had immense potential to become a true Saint. If he truly ascended to Sainthood, Great Xia would gain another Saint.

Even though Kong Weilan was a representative of one of the great families, having one more Saint would undoubtedly provide a stronger guarantee for the base cities if star beasts were ever to invade. However, if he turned to aiding evil after becoming a Saint, it wouldn’t be too late to kill him then.

Li Xiaofei cleared his mind of distractions and began channeling his inner qi, activating the secret Beichen Sword Qi Meridian Severance Technique. He started slowly carving out new qi meridians within his body. A trace of pain appeared on his face as sweat beaded on his forehead.

Slicing meridians meant slicing the physical body as well as the soul. The further one advanced in cultivation, the more excruciating the pain of carving out a new qi meridian became. Yet, Li Xiaofei pressed on without hesitation.

The qi meridians within his body continued to increase as time passed. Ten days. Twenty days. Nine hundred and twenty-one... Nine hundred and seventy-eight...

By the twenty-ninth day, Li Xiaofei finished carving the nine hundred and ninety-nine qi meridian. If he added his original twelve principal meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, Li Xiaofei now possessed a total of one thousand one hundred and nineteen natural inner qi channels capable of circulating in a small heavenly cycle.

In contrast, other martial artists in the Meridian Expanding Realm typically only had twelve principal meridians. Li Xiaofei nearly had one hundred times more meridians than an ordinary practitioner. Moreover, the benefits gained from each additional qi channel were far beyond a simple numeric increase.

“Phew...” Li Xiaofei exhaled a breath of stale air from his chest.

The process of carving new qi meridians was excruciating. But once the meridians were completed and inner qi surged through them, it felt like a clear spring revitalizing a parched riverbed. He felt a profound sense of harmony between his body and soul.

Li Xiaofei slowly rose to his feet. He slipped into the movements of the Yi Jin Jing as his body stretched and unfolded completely. His state reached an unprecedented peak.

In the blink of an eye, Li Xiaofei had flawlessly completed all the movements of the Yi Jin Jing. His tendons, skin, blood, and flesh had undergone perfect refinement. The Yi Jin Jing had achieved mastery!

At the same time, the technique Formless Sword Bone resonated with the terrifyingly vast number of meridians within his body that were now roaring with starforce qi. His bones glowed with a radiant light as a faint metallic sheen emerged. An indistinct yet chilling sword hum reverberated within him. His Black Iron Sword Bone had reached mastery!

Li Xiaofei could clearly sense that the combination of the Yi Jin Jing and the Formless Sword Bone had pushed his flesh and bones to an unimaginable degree. The physical strength he had long struggled to break through finally surpassed its limits in this moment where quantity transformed into quality.

His body began to grow rapidly. His height surged once more as he exceeded ten meters in the span of mere breaths. His muscles swelled to resemble towering hills. The thickness of a single finger now surpassed the waist of an average person. The breakthrough in physical strength also significantly increased his body’s density.

“So this is the transformation that comes after breaking through the limits of physical strength?”

Li Xiaofei carefully observed his altered body. In his heart, he speculated that this secondary growth was likely a natural adaptation triggered by unlocking some fundamental code of life. His original body could no longer contain such terrifying strength, so his body had grown to an unprecedented degree.

“When I was in Liuhe Base City, I also experienced this kind of muscle enhancement and body expansion during my earlier physical breakthroughs. I already resembled a monster back then, but now I’ve surpassed ten meters...”

He glanced at his lower body and couldn’t help but inhale sharply.

"How is anyone supposed to deal with this?"

Yet, the overwhelming sense of strength that accompanied his enlarged body filled Li Xiaofei with exhilaration.

Whoosh!

A casual flick of his finger alone produced a shockwave akin to the Finger Flick Technique he used to rely on.

“My current physical strength alone could easily crush someone in the Dao Union Realm. If I amplify my physical power with inner qi... perhaps I could even contend with someone in the Divine Realm?”

Li Xiaofei focused intently on sensing his newfound power.

The Divine Realm is the domain of quasi-Saints. Can I, at the peak of the Meridian Expanding Realm, rival a quasi-Saint?

Even Li Xiaofei was startled by this bold thought.

He immediately used Graceful Step of the Waves and began unleashing martial arts techniques such as the Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms, Great Strength Vajra Fist, Six Meridian Divine Sword, Dog Beating Staff Technique, and the Desperate Thirteen Swords.

Every casual strike he performed carried unimaginable destructive power. The vast Secret Time Pavilion trembled as deafening roars echoed through it. Visible waves of energy distorted the air, surging violently in every direction.

Li Xiaofei finally confirmed that his combat strength had indeed reached an inconceivable level. Perhaps, there had never been an individual in the entire history of Earth’s martial arts sects and styles who shattered the Star Council's rigid system of martial realm classifications in such a way.

Li Xiaofei realized that his true combat strength could no longer be measured by any pre-established levels.

Last time, when I broke through with my physical body, I defined three distinct forms for myself. This time, I can do the same.

As the thought crossed his mind, Li Xiaofei used the disguise techniques from the Pity Flower Treasure Manual. He strained to contract his muscles and control his flesh and bones. Slowly, his figure began to shrink.