No matter how fierce its punch, not only was there no effect, but the rebound even pained the Heracles Ape.
“Wawu——!”
The Heracles Ape almost died from excessive anger. It swore that, once this human came out, it would capture that fellow alive and force him to reveal the method to enter.
Its guess was right; Ling Xiao had made a breakthrough.
He had broken through to Rank Five Martial Vein. Moreover, because his gang qi had been completely saturated before, he directly stepped into late stage Rank Five Martial Vein, close to the peak level.
However, his gang qi’s quantity hadn’t increased much, still hovering around Peak Rank Six Martial Vein.
However, his gang qi’s quality had significantly improved. This caused his attack power to match an initial stage Rank Six Martial Vein martial artist’s.
His defense power similarly rose to initial stage Rank Six Martial Vein.
All of this was analyzed by the Landscape Martial Soul. After all, he was a very mundane person; he wasn’t an expert at judging strength.
Honestly speaking, his breakthrough had surprised even him. With that thunderous clap, it had been truly eye-catching. Fortunately, there had been no mishaps.
However, since he had just made a breakthrough, he still had to consolidate his cultivation, which he immediately began doing.
This breakthrough to late stage Rank Five Martial Vein had been hard-earned. If his strength remained unstable, once he got injured, his cultivation might substantially fall.
The night welcomed the day once more.
Ling Xiao opened his bright and piercing eyes.
With careful inspection, one might notice a world within his pupils.
At this moment, his cultivation had already stabilized at late stage Rank Five Martial Vein.
In terms of combat power, he wouldn’t lose to an initial stage Rank Six Martial Vein martial artist; his endurance would even exceed one.
If the current him ran into those three who had attempted to kill him before, he would instantly massacre them without any effort.
In these short two days, his strength had improved at a terrifying speed.
After reaching Rank Five Martial Vein, the Landscape Martial Soul granted him a new ability——
Martial Soul Clone.
This ability used gang qi to condense a clone without consciousness.
Moreover, after this clone merged with the Landscape Martial Soul’s Analysis and Deduction ability, it could perfectly imitate any martial art Ling Xiao had seen before.
Like this, he would have countless training partners.
This was the clone’s most crucial use. However, it had only 50% of his strength, so it was basically useless in battle.
Currently, he estimated that it could only display initial stage Rank Three Martial Vein strength.
Although it was not of much use in battle, at a critical moment, it could substitute for him since its aura matched his.
Moreover, after being destroyed, a new one could be condensed, so he didn’t need to worry about losing it.
It could also be regarded as a life-saving means.
“It has already been close to three days, and the finals will soon start. I have to get out of here.”
Although he wanted to continue cultivating, the finals were very important to him.
Furthermore, with his Landscape World, he could store the Cold Pond Gold Liquid and the snow lotuses for cultivation even after leaving.
Therefore, he couldn’t delay any longer.
However, he frowned at the exit.
“Damn it! This Heracles Ape is still waiting even after so long. Does it want to wait its entire life?”
Although Ling Xiao was very distressed at heart, he was helpless.
Even if his strength had vastly increased, it was impossible to escape from this beast’s grasp.
Helpless, Ling Xiao could only return and continue cultivating.
Perhaps, taking advantage of this chance, he could raise his cultivation to Peak Rank Five Martial Vein Realm and achieve the sixth transformation of <Nine Transformation Golden Body Art>.
He gritted his teeth and returned to the pond to continue simultaneously cultivating <Snow Lotus Qi Formula> and <Nine Transformation Golden Body Art> like before.
Both were quite difficult to improve after their fifth layers.
Fortunately, there was the Cold Pond Gold Liquid,;otherwise, he truly wouldn’t have known when he would improve in them.
The gold liquid and cold qi simultaneously entered his body and were dissolved and absorbed by the two peak martial arts, continuously transforming his body.
In addition, a tendril of aura strengthened his soul, making his soul now twice as powerful as an ordinary person’s.
The direct benefits of a powerful soul were an increase in comprehension, courage, and willpower.
Naturally, the effects would have been even better if he had a soul-type secret technique.
With one, he could then use his soul power as an attack.
Two hours!
Four hours!
Six hours!
……
With the rapid rotation of his Landscape Martial Soul, Ling Xiao’s cultivation speed was shocking. Every cell in his body screamed in pleasure.
According to legend, an almighty being had researched the human body during the remote ages and concluded that the humans of this world possessed a hundred million million cells. More than 100 million cells died and were reborn every second.
The ultimate goal of cultivation was to transform all of one’s cells into energy cells. In that realm, as long as even one cell survived, a martial artist wouldn’t die.
However, this was just a legend. No one had truly confirmed it.
At this moment, Ling Xiao felt some special changes occurring within his cells.
One cell that gradually turned golden and became undying.
The most terrifying aspect was that this cell’s transformation directly increased his physical strength by 100 pounds.
What was this?
Bang!
A second cell turned golden. His physical strength improved by another 100 pounds.
Third!
Fourth!
When he gained his fifth golden cell, this process finally stopped. The more cells converted, the more energy required for the next transformation. He had yet to reach that level.
Nevertheless, transforming just five cells increased his strength by 500 pounds. Now, his strength had already reached a terrifying 2,000 pounds.
Unknowingly, two days quickly passed.
Ling Xiao’s <Snow Lotus Qi Formula> had reached the sixth layer. Although his cultivation base hadn’t advanced further, it had completely stabilized at late stage Rank Five Martial Vein.
To his pleasant surprise, <Nine Transformation Golden Body Art> had achieved the sixth transformation.
The fifth transformation was small success, so the sixth transformation was a new qualitative level. The improvement of the sixth level exceeded the previous five transformations combined.
After all, the prior five transformations had been the foundation, the small success realm, and passively increased his defense.
Once he reached the sixth transformation, not only was his durable body impervious to sword and spear, but he could also freely maintain this hardened state while displaying various martial skills.
His defense turned into offense.
Honestly, his current <Nine Transformation Golden Body Art> could also be called an offensive martial art that was somewhat similar to Vajra Palm and others but stronger.
Its only flaw was that it lacked variations. <Meteorite Fist> was much better on this point.
However, most similar level martial artists couldn’t break his defenses.
Unless the other party was a heavenly genius or possessed special weapons or martial arts, it was impossible to injure him.
But even under those rare conditions, the damage would be greatly reduced.
