After consuming middle-grade Body Tempering Pill for three consecutive days, the effect of the pill was gradually weakening, and the progress of the "Fire Essence Body Forging Chapter" was slow.
On the fourth day, Chu Ming had no choice but to switch to upper-grade Body Tempering Pill to aid his cultivation. Upon ingesting the upper-grade pill, Chu Ming immediately felt his whole body heat up. A tingling sensation was slowly moving through his muscles. Without any hesitation, Chu Ming immediately took up his stance and began practicing his Fist Technique.
After completing a set of Fist Techniques, his physical strength increased by dozens of pounds. At this point, every pound of increase was not easy to achieve. Previously, using middle-grade Body Tempering Pills, a set of Fist Techniques would only increase physical strength by a few pounds.
He continued this body refining process. On the sixth day, Chu Ming felt his body heat up, and his vitality was constantly increasing, like moving a mountain. His vitality felt like threads, and with each breath, it seemed as though a white mist was being exhaled from his nose.
The sound of his heartbeat became noticeably slower, but the strong beating sound was like the sound of drums, constantly echoing in Chu Ming’s ears.
A feeling of comfort emerged from Chu Ming’s muscles, like a hungry wolf. Chu Ming realized that he had already cultivated the "Fire Essence Body Forging Chapter" to the third layer, the realm of Fire Essence Unity.
Deep in Chu Ming’s muscles, he could clearly feel a scorching breath brewing within, containing a powerful explosiveness. If unleashed, it would be like the explosion of Fire Essence.
Having achieved the third layer of the "Fire Essence Body Forging Chapter," Chu Ming didn’t know exactly how strong his physical strength was. He cleaned out all the impurities from his body, donned a white robe, and came to a huge stone in the courtyard.
He punched out like a tiger, delivering a powerful blow!
A simple punch, without any Martial Technique infusion or Spiritual Power fluctuation, plain and unadorned, struck the giant stone before him.
The stone shattered as the sound of breaking rocks echoed. Chu Ming lowered his fist and looked closely; from the bottom of the rock, a crack extended all the way to the top, weaving like a worm.
Chu Ming took a deep breath; originally, his physical strength wasn’t nearly this powerful. By his estimate, his current physical strength was about sixty Tiger Power, more than double his earlier strength.
Most importantly, Chu Ming’s cultivation of the "Fire Essence Body Forging Chapter" had reached the third layer of Fire Essence Unity. He could now use middle-grade Spirit Stones for cultivation without worrying about overstraining his meridians and Dantian.
Of course, Chu Ming didn’t start using middle-grade Spirit Stones for cultivation immediately. With the continuous breakthrough through two layers in the cracks, using middle-grade Spirit Stones for cultivation now could destabilize his foundation. Stabilizing his current cultivation was most important.
Only five days remained before the Cyan Yang Tower challenge. Chu Ming quietly consolidated his cultivation in his small courtyard. Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
Having finished breakfast, Chu Ming walked toward the Central Square. Many disciples on the road were discussing the Cyan Yang Tower challenge with great interest. After all, this challenge was a monthly event in the Cyan Yang Sect.
Once more seeing the Cyan Yang Tower, Chu Ming’s heart was still filled with awe. The Cyan Yang Tower stood over ninety zhang tall, like a lurking giant beast. The disciples scattered around it seemed like ants beneath the tower.
When Chu Ming arrived at the Cyan Yang Tower, most disciples were already present, and the Inner Sect Elder stood quietly, indicating that the Cyan Yang Tower challenge had already begun. Chu Ming casually found a spot to stand and waited in silence.
Unlike the previous lively Cyan Yang Tower challenge, which drew top ten disciples from the Cyan Yang List, this challenge was much quieter without the appearance of any top ten disciples.
One disciple after another entered the Cyan Yang Tower, coming out with faces full of disappointment. Even the face of the Inner Sect Elder nearby grew increasingly grim. This phenomenon reflected the Cyan Yang Sect’s progress in cultivation for the past month.
Currently, the Great Yan Kingdom was facing tumultuous times, and the disciples’ cultivation enthusiasm within the Cyan Yang Sect was lacking, which put the elder in a foul mood.
As the sun moved overhead, it was finally Chu Ming’s turn. He bowed to the Inner Sect Elder, took a deep breath, and slowly walked into the Cyan Yang Tower.
Time and space twisted as Chu Ming opened his eyes, finding himself once again in the gray bamboo forest.
Bamboo leaves floated around, and a white figure stood silently, slowly turning its faceless body towards Chu Ming upon sensing his arrival.
This feeling was completely different from his first visit. Initially, the white Illusionary Body could exert pressure and spar with him, but now, the Illusionary Body seemed weak, very weak.
Almost instantly, two stone swords fell from the sky, embedding themselves in the ground at Chu Ming’s and the Illusionary Body’s feet. Their tips pierced half a foot into the ground, and the handles trembled continuously, resembling the chirping of hundreds of birds.
Bamboo leaves floated in the space around them, blurring the vision. Chu Ming wasted no time and directly pulled out the sword handle from the ground, the stone sword vibrating.
Sword light blossomed from Chu Ming’s sword, akin to melting winter snow. Time and space churned in chaos, and the sword light swiftly reached the Illusionary Body.
In a flash, the Illusionary Body positioned its stone sword horizontally before its chest. A flicker of the white blade unleashed an astronomical sword light, shredding the surrounding bamboo leaves.
Even though Chu Ming’s follow-up strike was strong, the first layer Illusionary Body couldn’t resist it. The furious spiritual power burst from Chu Ming’s sword light instantly extinguished the Illusionary Body, turning it into ashes.
Suddenly, Chu Ming appeared in a fiery land. Several fiery meteors descended from the sky, crashing onto the ground and creating countless sparks. Not far away, lava rolled endlessly.
In the distance, a black figure sat quietly on a rock, devoid of life, but its sword edge radiated a powerful aura, with surrounding fiery meteors transforming into scattered stars.
With a stone sword in hand, Chu Ming calmly observed the black-robed figure. Last time, he only survived two moves from the second layer Illusionary Body, but now he was much stronger.
The stone sword in Chu Ming’s hand shook, emitting multiple sword lights that fractured space, swiftly reaching the black-robed figure.
The Illusionary Body summoned a stone sword, generating an astounding sword aura that cut through the surrounding space, shattering a fiery meteor in the sky.
The sword light immediately disintegrated, forming a white sword array that surrounded the Illusionary Body, impenetrable, with sharp energy permeating.