The wooden board was easily crushed underfoot. At the last moment, Galon hastily rolled away, standing up to face Tasia with a steady gaze. "So, how can one strengthen their heart? Is it possible to achieve this without thinking about anything?"
Tasia paused, then laughed, "Someone must have told you, 'Don't let power lose your heart. The strong will always be strong, and the weak will always be weak,' right?"
"How did you know?" Galon was surprised again.
"What a nonsensical theory!" Tasia scoffed. "I've personally killed countless people who held such foolish and backward beliefs! Such a theory only produces useless people trained by it."
She tilted her head, loosening up her body. "Power is power! The stronger your personal power, the stronger you are, and in turn, your spirit will be nurtured stronger! Unbeatable confidence is always forged by victories brought by power."
"The strength of the spirit is cultivated through repeated affirmations of oneself." Galon fell silent. "So, as long as you believe deeply in yourself, as long as you think it's right, then it is right, right?"
"Exactly," Tasia's temples turned even redder, "To truly understand this, I'll have to exert a bit more effort."
"Crap!" Galon inwardly shivered, knowing his senior sister was about to unleash her fury. Facing her head-on would be unpleasant. If it weren't for the second senior brother intervening last time, he would have ended up seriously injured.
Without hesitation, Galon immediately turned and executed a charge form. Among the Baiyun combat techniques, this was what he mastered best. With the first step of his right foot, he dashed to the staircase and leaped down without looking back.
Suddenly, a soft whooshing sound came from behind, and a palm gently landed on his left shoulder. The touch was silent and gentle, as if a lover had lightly placed their hands on his shoulders.
Galon, in a panic, shot his elbow backward with a hiss, sharp as an arrow, with the elbow acting as the arrowhead.
This was the shooting form, the most physically demanding of the four forms and the one with the strongest burst of speed. With special force application techniques, any part of the body could be trained to shoot out like an arrow at any moment.
Galon had only mastered this technique with his right arm and elbow. With a tap, his elbow was easily dodged, and he accelerated towards the staircase below, slightly faster than usual by exerting a bit more of his hidden strength.
His mastery of the Baiyun Secret Method was slowly increasing his strength daily. Although he had reached the limits of adult human strength, it continued to rise steadily without any pause.
Using the slight acceleration, Galon finally escaped his senior sister's pursuit and landed steadily at the stairwell on the first floor.
In the morning, the main hall was bustling with disciples coming and going. Recognizing Galon, who had recently joined the dojo as the master's closed-door disciple, they watched him jump down from the second floor.
"Senior sister's rule is to stop once you're off the second floor. It was good I came down in time," Galon wiped his sweat and steadied himself. "Sparring with senior sister poses the greatest risk, but it truly trains your reflexes. Without constant vigilance, you're bound to get injured."
He was increasingly aware of the complexity of the Baiyun Martial Arts School. Master Fei Baiyun was always shrouded in mystery, and from her tone and experience, Tasia was undoubtedly a terrifying figure who had killed numerous people.
The second senior brother turned out to be a high-ranking member of the Federal Combat Association and one of the city's amateur rank examiners. Rumor had it he also ran some underground businesses, appearing as a successful businessman outside.
As for the third senior brother, he was a complete rich second-generation official's son. His father was Huai Shan City's administrative inspector, one of the two most powerful individuals in the city. His mother was a countess, making him extremely wealthy.
Recently, during a sparring session with the senior sister, the third senior brother somehow provoked her and ended up severely injured, now recuperating at home.
Galon, relying on his strong defense, had agreed to spar with the senior sister without much understanding, only to swell up immediately after taking a few hits.
After tidying up his clothes, Galon asked two staff members about the whereabouts of the second senior brother and the master, with no one knowing, as expected.
Drinking some hot water and wiping off his sweat, Galon leisurely strolled around the dojo, taking the opportunity to rest.
His physique was becoming more robust, and the contours of his strong muscles were hard to conceal even under the black dojo uniform.
Walking by the training ground, disciples passing by greeted him respectfully.
In the middle of the training ground, three groups of core disciples were practicing Baiyun combat techniques, selected from various branches and dressed in white uniforms, executing each move precisely.
While relaxing and wandering, Galon checked his potential points, now at 155%.
"It's been over a week since I visited my uncle, and now I have some attribute points to allocate. I need to carefully consider where to put them."
He decided not to add to his skills, as adding attribute points to ordinary skills would be a waste. Only special skills that are hard to improve would be worthwhile, but now, he couldn't add to Explosive Fist Technique or Baiyun Secret Method. The best use of attribute points would be on his physical qualities.
As for Baiyun combat techniques, being fundamental, Galon planned to thoroughly familiarize himself with each move through practice, rather than relying on attribute points. He wanted to compare the difference between training himself and using points to improve basic martial arts techniques.
Looking at his current attributes:
Strength 2.12, Agility 1.10, Constitution 1.35, Intelligence 1.50.
"Long-term training has increased my constitution by 0.01, and my strength has also increased under the effect of the Baiyun Secret Method. But I can vaguely feel that 2.2 is the limit."
Galon recently sensed, through an intuitive feeling about his body, that he had reached a limit in strength, beyond which even the Baiyun Secret Method would struggle to improve. This limit, known as the innate physical limit, exists for everyone.
"It seems that 2.2 might be my strength limit. Compared to the second senior brother, I'm still a bit lacking. His strength is said to be over 450 pounds, which translates to an attribute of 2.25. Perhaps his innate constitution is slightly better than mine, but he has also not seen growth for a long time. Could it be that 450 pounds is the human body's limit in strength?"
Galon pondered.
"Let's look up some information."
Acting on his thought, he turned and headed towards the dojo's library.
The bald, strong old man was still sitting at the entrance, meditating.
Galon approached the old man with a question in mind.
"Master Bai, may I ask you a question?"
The bald elder remained motionless.
Galon waited patiently, and after several minutes, the old man slowly opened his eyes.
"Ask."
"How much is the human body's limit in strength?" Galon asked quietly.
"Limit in strength?" The elder pondered, "According to the units here, it should be around 480 pounds. That's the strongest record in the circle. However, everyone's limit varies, and no matter how much you train, you can only reach a certain limit."
"What about someone with my physique? How much could my limit in strength be?" Galon asked, pointing at himself.
"You?" Master Bai's gaze settled on Galon, scanning him, "I estimate it should be between 430 and 450 pounds."
"Quite accurate!" Galon was startled internally, grateful for the Baiyun Secret Method's ability to drastically alter his physique, hiding his true strength. Otherwise, this elder might have discerned something.
After transforming his physique, his strength reached its limit. At the same time, his skin's defense greatly increased, equivalent to twice the primary level of the Explosive Fist Technique. Holding a sharp knife, one would need over a hundred pounds of force to pierce his skin.
"Thank you for your time," Galon bowed and left as the old man closed his eyes again.
"So, 240 is my limit. Each addition of attribute points adds 0.3, which is a 60-pound increase in strength. It's just uncertain whether it can be used to break through the limit after reaching it."
Galon was uncertain; if he couldn't break through the limit, it would significantly restrict his future development. However, if he could continue to stack and break through the limit, his potential would be limitless!
"Maybe it's worth a try."
His gaze fell on the strength attribute.
The strength attribute slowly jumped from 2.12 to 2.20. Suddenly, Galon felt a tingling sensation throughout his body as his muscles rhythmically pulsed in sync with his heartbeat.
He felt an intense throbbing in his temples, as if something was trying to burst forth.
This sensation lasted for over ten seconds before subsiding. Galon looked back at his attribute column to find his strength at 2.20, with no further increase but a new symbol appearing.
He understood the meaning of this symbol at a glance.
"Is my constitution unable to handle too much strength? It seems I must also improve my constitution."
After adding strength, he had 0.22 attribute points left, all of which Galon allocated to constitution.
The constitution column instantly changed from 1.35 to 1.57.
After increasing his constitution, Galon felt a warm sensation throughout his body, as if an internal furnace was continuously heating his organs. He could almost hear his flesh sizzling.
The circulation of his blood, the beating of his heart, and the pressure changes in his lungs due to breathing gave Galon a sense of control over his body like never before.
With a snap, Galon was astonished to see the skill column, where the primary level of the Explosive Fist Technique finally jumped, advancing to the intermediate level.
A more intense swelling sensation emerged from within his body.
Galon could barely stand, leaning against the wall in the corridor to steady himself, grateful that no one around noticed him.
He felt another layer of an invisible liquid slowly secreting from his organs, permeating his bones, muscles, and skin, covering his entire body.