"It's always exciting to do it," he muttered.
When Yang Wu felt his state was at its peak, he began to surge his energy toward his Qi Center. Everything converged there, leaving nothing for the rest of his body.
Normally, all organs need a minimum amount of Qi Blood to operate healthily, so taking all of it means his organs would suffer damage.
But it was a necessary step, for becoming a Martial Adept meant one was willing to risk his life to adapt to martial arts and live alongside it for all the remaining years.
When all his Five Elements Qi Blood was concentrated in his Qi Center, he began to compress it further, making it denser and more volatile.
The denser it was, the more difficult it was to be controlled by him. But it was just a process.
When it reached a limit of density, Yang Wu began to inject his Blood Essence into it, as if adding fuel. The Qi Blood began to turn easier to control and so Yang Wu continued to compress it.
When it reached a new limit, Yang Wu simply added more of his blood essence, burdening his body to the extremes, but it had to be done.
When his face was paler than white snow and his body was trembling from weakness, his Qi Blood began to act by itself for the first time. As if it reached a threshold, it began to compress itself without the need for Yang Wu's deliberate control.
When it turned a hundred times denser than its original form, it stopped and began to shine with five-colored light stronger than ever.
Yang Wu's body seemed to feel the dawn had come as it began to slowly shine together.
At the same time, Yang Wu's Qi Center began to tremble and expand by itself. It slowly turned five times bigger than it was before. When it stopped expanding, the dense Qi Blood inside it expanded rapidly toward all the Qi Veins, forcefully expanding them too.
But somehow, the Qi Veins didn't burst because of the sudden expansion but rather seemed to expect it. Slowly, all Qi Veins expanded about five times their original diameter but magically didn't affect the size of Yang Wu's body at all.
When its job was done, the Qi Blood began to return to normality, but it never returned to its original form. It became about five times denser than it was originally, and its quantity was also multiplied by five, a not surprising symmetry. It was the magic of a breakthrough, it gathered all nutrients available and used them as fuel for evolution.
With a new inner state, Yang Wu's entire body also began to improve altogether. Be it its sturdiness, endurance, vitality or strength, everything evolved to a higher level too. From the innermost marrow and blood to the hairs of his head, everything was affected by the breakthrough. The wounds caused by the beginning of the breakthrough also quickly healed, and his depleted Blood Essence returned to normality, it was the magic of a breakthrough operating.
Suddenly, Yang Wu opened his eyes and made a strange gesture with his arms, muttering, "Open."
His Qi Blood began to circulate to specific places all over his body under his control, there it encountered the resistance of thousands of unopened acupoints, they are much harder to open than the ones from before. Yang Wu spent more time opening them one by one than breaking through his Realm.
Several days later, a total of exactly seven thousand acupoints were opened, totalizing ten thousand acupoints totally opened in his body. Together they formed what was called in his first world "Myriad Mysteries Circulation Path."
These new acupoints, together with the ones already opened, could be used by him to gather nutrients and strengthen his body more perfectly than before. It would fasten his practice and strengthen his Martial Foundation.
When he felt he did everything he had to do, Yang Wu got up and began to stretch his body. He didn't feel tired after spending so many days without proper sleep. His body was slowly detaching from commonness.
He opened the door of his room and was quickly greeted by a maid, "Does the Mighty One need anything?"
Yang Wu just waved his hand casually and disappeared from her sight in a blink.
Soon, he found the King alone in the garden, seemingly bored with the State's affairs.
"Are you afraid I will not hold my word?" Yang Wu said, scaring the king shitless.
"M-Mighty One!" the king gasped but quickly recovered.
"I think I made it clear I don't like to be called so," Yang Wi said and smiled, "But I guess it's natural for you to forget it after those tense days waiting for my retreat to end."
"I'm sorry," the king smiled bitterly, "I dare not doubt your righteousness."
Yang Wu shook his head and said, "Just so you know, I have known for a while your little plans with the empire."
The king instantly paled but said nothing, as if in shock.
Yang Wu laughed hard and said, "I don't care if you all want to live longer or possess powers like mine. It's just human nature after all.
"Of course, the most important thing was that both you and the empire didn't dare to plan against me."
The king recovered after a few seconds and smiled bitterly, "I'm sorry for making you look at our jokes. We are wrong and deserve to be humbled by you."
Yang Wu raised his eyebrow and took another look at the king, "Now you are saying things befitting of a true king."
"You praise me," the king lowered his head, not caring about his crown about to fall from his head.
"A true king has first to admit his limitations and be humble to himself, and then to others," Yang Wu began to change the topic, "If a king can't see his own flaws, he is as good as a puppet."
"My father once said something similar to your words," the king said with hazy eyes, "But he is along the unwise and the fools now."
Yang Wu opened his mouth and looked at the king more deeply, "You are indeed talented, you realized a few things after that day."
"Thanks to you," the king smiled genuinely, "I'm not that worried about my death anymore."
"About about your wife?" Yang Wu asked, "Is she the same?"
The king shook his head and said nothing.
"But it doesn't matter," Yang Wu smirked, "I will fulfill my part of the deal."
The king opened his mouth a few times but said nothing again.
"Are you trying to speak for the empire?" Yang Wu's eyes narrowed and he smirked, "I won't give them anything for now, but you can share what I will give to you if you want."
"Thank you!" The king bowed again, with a complex expression on his face, he truly experienced many things in just a few days. Both because of the empire and Yang Wu.
Yang Wu returned to his room and picked a few cheap papers to write the health-preserving and life-extending exercises, along with a secret manual to concoct life-extending medicine, but he didn't know if that world had all the herbs necessary, since he only saw a few of them.
Although the exercises didn't explain how to set one's foot on the true martial path, a genius only needed enough time to figure it out. Yang Wu was well aware of this but still wrote the exercises, which demonstrated his changed mindset.
He put the cheap pen on the table and began to organize the papers. Once he finished, he smirked at the thought of someone thinking it ridiculous to write "precious knowledge" with cheap ink on cheap paper. He did it on purpose, so people won't treasure his writings with their self-created superstitions. The paper, because of it's poor quality, won't be for a long time.
He smiled and reminisced a little about his past life, It was for him a complex memory, but it didn't schackle him anymore.
He walked outside and gave everything to the king, saying, "I will leave for you the decision on how to deal with it. Use, practice, spread, do whatever you want."
"Thank you," the king unexpectedly kneeled on the ground, surprising Yang Wu, "I'm called a king, but now I know there's a broader sky than my mind."
Yang Wu caressed his short beard, which had grown in the past year, and nodded at the king with appreciation, "I'm not particularly hopeful, but you might be a better king."
The king opened his mouth and looked at the spot where Yang Wu was just an instant before, he was gone. He sighed and looked at the valuable papers in his hands, they didn't feel as heavy as he once thought they would.
Yang Wu left the palace with quick movements, jumping and sprinting with his inhuman prowess. As he distanced himself, his mind also dispelled the worries about the consequences of his actions.
'I can't be bound to my first life forever, things will inevitably change,' he thought, 'Perhaps this world might present me a different scenario with martial arts... perhaps.'
He directly left for the wild, he wanted to try his new strength where he had no worries.
When already deep inside the rocky woods and close to a stream, he stopped his tracks, picked a long dry tree branch to use as a staff, and began to perform something like a dance, but his fast and smooth movements were similar to a wild stream from the desolates. It had the strength to crush and the flexibility to avoid anything.
It carried the same kind of intent as his sword art, it carried the purest moonlight with every swing, althought just a very tiny bit, since his body wouldn't be able to bear it's full potential. And now, thanks to his new Realm, he could cover his weapon with his Qi Blood for a longer time.
Slowly, from his hands five-colored energy spread towards the tip of the "staff," causing the air around to scream in agony with every move of his.
Closing his eyes, he mobilized all his Qi Blood and began to "dance along the leaves and wind." It was as if the sun had disappeared, for only the pale moonlight emanating from Yang Wu illuminated the surroundings. Even the five colors of his Qi Blood stopped showing, as the stars dimmed by the full moon.
"Intent...!" Yang Wu muttered, channeling a tiny bit of his Intent, and suddenly opened his eyes, he made a piercing move with the staff towards a huge boulder dozens of meters away, the border remained still for a few seconds before crumbling into bits little by little, It was terrifying and beautiful at the same time.
'This is my only beloved,' Yang Wu thought, 'Moonlight.'
After ending his "dance," the sunlight returned to his surroundings, as the dawn expulsing the light reflected by the moon. Everything returned to normal, but Yang Wu's Qi Center was almost empty of Qi Blood.
"My Realm is still too low..." he muttered and went to bathe himself in the river, "At least, at least..."
Days passed, and he continued to grasp and hone his strength, alone in the woods. From time to time, the moonlight would outshine the sun during daytime...
But he didn't expect...
"Who are you?" Yang Wu asked after seeing a figure appearing from the woods, he didn't notice another being's presence before the figure approached by itself.
"Fear not, youngling," an old voice entered Yang Wu's mind, causing Yang Wu's eyes to narrow, for he didn't exactly hear, but the voice entered his mind.
'A martial artist?' he tried to judge the other party, his body was never so tense.
An old man in a colored robe appeared from between the woods, he had long black hair but his long beard was white. He carried a spear in his back and two green jade pendants in his waist.
Yang Wu still didn't sense the other party's presence even after seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't feel a thing, creeping him deeply.
'At least a Martial Expert!' Yang Wu thought and immediately put his "staff" down, he knew he had no chance in a fight, so he prepared to run when the opponent let his guard down.
"Didn't I tell you not to fear?" the old man laughed and made a gesture with his hand.
Yang Wu's expression suddenly changed, he noticed his body was floating and he couldn't fight back!
"Fuck!" he cursed, "A Martial Conqueror!!??"
"Hmm?" the old man caressed his temples, not understanding Yang Wu's words, "I'm just a poor taoist, fear not for I bring no ill intent."
Yang Wu was silent after hearing it, he knew a Martial Conqueror did not need to lie to the current him, but he had other doubts.
"Now, now," the old taoist laughed in satisfaction, "it seems you finally calmed down." He made another gesture and Yang Wu returned to the ground intact.
Yang Wu asked nothing, for he knew he had no right to ask questions.
The old taoist began to walk in circles around Yang Wu, as if examining something.
"No Mystical roots, but a special constitution..." the old taoist muttered, "But how good?"
'Mystical roots?' it was the first time Yang Wu heard that term, but he kept his mouth shut.
The old talist mumbled another few words before asking, "Child, do you know you are not an ordinary human being?"
Yang Wu's brain circuits operated and he gave an answer, "I know, other people don't possess the same strength as me."
"That's right!" the old taoist mumbled, "It was a stupid question of mine. Have you ever heard about immortal cultivation?"
"Immortal cultivation?" Yang Wu thought rapidly and wondered if it was another name for martial arts in that world, "No!"
"Of course not!" the old taoist laughed, "It was another stupid question of mine! Hahahhaha!"
Yang Wu calmly observed the other party, saying nothing to the eccentric behavior.
"Ahem!" the old taoist coughed and explained, "Just think of it as a way for humans to obtain power beyond a mortal's scope.
"I can see your curiosity taking form, just raise your question!"
"Can I be considered as doing immortal cultivation?" Yang Wu asked with sharp eyes.
"No!" the old taoist shook his head, "You possess a Five Elements Mystery Body, though."
'I possess a special constitution?' Yang Wu was confused, 'But why did I never notice? Am I that rusted?'
"Do you wish to know more about those things?" the old taoist asked while looking at the sky with deep eyes.
Yang Wu closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and saying, "Yes!"
The old taoist smiled and said, "So our fate has yet to come to the finishing line!"
He suddenly made a gesture and the spear on his back began to float towards his feet, he stepped on it and said, "Come, step on it too, I will show you a completely new world!"
Yang Wu took a deep breath and stepped on the spear.
Suddenly, an ascending shooting star appeared during the daytime.