Chapter Fourteen: The Third Layer of Martial Arts

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Chen Fan had completed the first level of the White Cloud True Art: the transformation of true energy. True energy naturally arose within his body, and he began the second level of the White Cloud True Art on autopilot.

He checked his progress. The cultivation of the second level would require about half a month of passive practice.

"That's still quite fast!"

Even Chen Fan himself had not anticipated this. The rapid progress in the first level was understandable with the help of the true energy seed, but to advance so quickly in the second level could only be attributed to the strength of his own foundation.

For others, even the genius core disciples of the White Cloud Martial Hall would need several months to complete the first level and a year or two to achieve the second. After all, the second level involved tempering the muscles, a feat not easily accomplished.

Yet he would complete muscle refinement in just half a month of passive cultivation?

Chen Fan was elated.

In the days that followed, he could distinctly feel his muscles becoming tougher and stronger. Though his blood and physique seemed unchanged, the power in his muscles had grown immeasurably.

He went on to test all the resources at his disposal. The medicinal soups and bath sachets from the White Cloud Martial Hall did nothing to improve his efficiency in cultivating the True Art or refining his body.

On the other hand, martial techniques and movement skills still proved useful. As before, they could double his efficiency.

Clearly, cultivation techniques and martial skills were fundamentally different.

The greatest boost to his progress in the White Cloud True Art came from the Deer Fetus Pill. A single pill could grant him two or three days’ worth of progress in passive cultivation.

Li Linliu had once warned that the Deer Fetus Pill was potent. Chen Fan took one every other day. Even so, his progress soared, and by the time he had consumed his third pill, he was nearly finished with the muscle refinement of the second level, needing only a final push.

The little that remained was completed in a single day.

One day passed.

His progress reached completion, his muscles thoroughly refined, and he broke through naturally to the third level.

There was no bottleneck.

His strength had now reached the third level of martial cultivation, known as the Organ Refinement Stage.

“I’ve reached the third level of martial arts?”

When he realized this, he was left rather amazed. He had spent over half a year laying his foundation in martial arts, but to break through the first two levels of true cultivation had taken him less than ten days.

Though he had relied on the power of medicinal pills, his speed was nevertheless astonishing.

“No wonder everyone waits until after turning eighteen and reaching the Inner Breath stage before cultivating true arts. A strong foundation gives an overwhelming advantage!”

Of course, Chen Fan was no fool. He knew this was due not only to his abundant vitality and solid base, but also to his unique passive cultivation talent.

The latter, indeed, was the more crucial factor.

He clenched his fist. Though his strength hadn’t greatly increased overnight, the feeling was entirely different. The improvement in his muscle strength over these past days far surpassed the gains from merely converting true energy in the early stages.

This, too, was because of his robust foundation and the powerful tempering effects of the White Cloud True Art.

He shook his head. “If others became this strong after refining their muscles, I’d never have stood a chance back then!”

Now, the third stage of true cultivation required the refinement of the internal organs—a phase that greatly enhanced a martial artist’s endurance.

Since the organs are extremely fragile, most people proceed with utmost caution during this stage, never allowing themselves the smallest distraction.

This level is a major hurdle in the early stages of true cultivation.

Those with weak foundations, namely martial artists who only mastered third-grade strength techniques, are almost always stuck at this threshold forever.

Of course, there are rare exceptions owing to special encounters or unique physiques.

Such third-grade martial artists are often called “false martial artists” for this very reason.

Take Xiao Chunkong, for instance—he had spent three or four years at the third level before nearing a breakthrough, which was considered average among core disciples.

Those with ordinary second-grade talent might require seven or eight years to break through, and those without talent might never succeed in their lifetime!

But Chen Fan, watching the special runes before him and the changing progress bar, was exhilarated.

To complete the third level of martial cultivation, he would need just over four months—less than five months in total—of passive cultivation.

And that was without any enhancement from medicinal pills.

If he continued using Deer Fetus Pills, even if the effect was only half as great as in the second level, he could still save a significant amount of time.

Judging by this rate, however, after reaching the fourth level, even someone with a foundation as strong as his might require considerable time to succeed.

Meanwhile, as his cultivation improved, he also pondered ways to increase the efficiency of the two major techniques.

“The images of White Cloud and Starry Sky are not difficult to grasp, but they don’t seem so easily triggered.”

He had often gazed at the clouds and the stars over the past two days, yet had never been able to spark sudden insight in either art.

Clearly, triggering the hidden conditions of cultivation techniques was far from straightforward.

He couldn’t help but wonder:

“Can the True Art be improved through actual combat?”

Martial skills and techniques could be honed and understood through sparring or by observing higher-level martial artists. But what about the True Art?

Chen Fan felt somewhat troubled.

“What use is it to just sit and ponder? Why not go and challenge someone directly!”

The first person who came to mind was Xiao Chunkong.

“I’ve now reached the third level, the same as Xiao Chunkong. My strength has soared, and with my passive cultivation, my proficiency in both true energy and martial skills is rising steadily… Unless Xiao Chunkong has reached the subtle mastery stage, I can easily crush him!”

He didn’t plan to wait until his progress at the third level increased before challenging Xiao Chunkong. The difference of a few percentage points in progress would not make much difference to his actual strength.

Reaching the third level naturally brought a significant rise in power, but to complete all the tempering would still take months, and Chen Fan was not willing to wait any longer.

He was now full of confidence.

When he reached his limit in vitality, his strength had already surpassed most core disciples at the third level in the White Cloud Martial Hall.

Now, after his recent improvements, his strength had increased even further.

Even if Xiao Chunkong was on the verge of the fourth level, or had already reached it, his sheer physical power would not surpass Chen Fan.

This was an advantage in the level of strength itself.

Of course, if his opponent’s martial skills had reached perfection, or he had mastered secret techniques, he might still pose some challenge—a fitting opponent for Chen Fan at this stage.

Recalling how Mu Lei and the others had harassed him previously, Chen Fan felt a surge of anger.

“Xiao Chunkong, I’m coming for you!”

With that, he strode out the door.

But as soon as he stepped outside, he stopped in confusion.

He realized he had no idea where to find Xiao Chunkong.

It had always been Xiao Chunkong and his group who sought him out and pestered him—he had no idea where they lived!

Glancing up at the sun, he noted that it was still some time before noon. Scratching his head, Chen Fan realized that after all these months, he still didn’t know the layout of the main hall or where the core disciples usually gathered. So he headed straight for Lin Shiyu’s residence.

Lin Shiyu was, after all, the one he interacted with most among the core disciples.

Sure enough, Lin Shiyu was at home.

“Junior Brother Chen, what do you want with Xiao Chunkong?!”

When Lin Shiyu learned that Chen Fan was looking for Xiao Chunkong, he was startled.

Chen Fan replied bluntly, “To beat him up!”

Lin Shiyu’s eyes widened in alarm. “Junior Brother Chen, listen to your elder brother’s advice—whatever you do, don’t challenge Xiao Chunkong now!”