Chương 42: I, Cang Lian, am invincible among those of the same rank.

Spring, summer, autumn, and winter; cold and heat come and go.

Month after month, time flies.

In the blink of an eye, a whole year has passed since Cang Lian left the Cang family.

Now, winter has arrived, and the biting north wind howls across the base; the end of the year is fast approaching.

This year of arduous training has completely transformed Cang Lian, making her a completely different person.

He stood in the cultivation room, his consciousness sinking into his mind, where the panel that only he could see was radiating a captivating light.

【Opening Heaven Force: 100/100 (Perfect)】 Hypnosis: 100/100 (Perfect)

"The Opening Force" has finally reached its perfect state!

Although this is not a specific fist or palm technique, but merely an extremely exquisite method of generating power, it is this method that, like a key, has completely and without reservation developed the terrifying potential hidden in his "innate divine strength" body!

The essence of Ming Jin lies in concentrating the strength of the whole body into one point, emphasizing unparalleled ferocity, hard strikes and advances, and unleashing the most terrifying power at the moment of contact.

Now, with each punch and kick, Cang Lian can mobilize the power of his entire body, his strength flowing smoothly and without any stagnation.

He is the epitome of power, the embodiment of fierceness!

Every part of the body, whether it is the shoulder, elbow, knee, hip, back, chest, head, or foot, can achieve a unified and concentrated power, and can unleash force at will.

This naturally endowed him with the essence of many external martial arts styles.

With a thought, he slammed his shoulder down and rammed into a granite test stone about half a person's height.

"Bang--!"

With a dull thud like a giant bell being struck, the incredibly hard granite was smashed into countless fragments from the middle by his leaning against it!

Stone chips flew everywhere, and dust filled the air!

This is the essence of the "Iron Mountain Lean" in Bajiquan, which is described as "three swaying blows with a hard strike, and you'll fall down even without a collision." He used the principles of "Opening Heaven Force" to apply it with ease!

Immediately afterwards, he raised his elbow, unleashing a burst of power—the ruthless and cunning "elbow strike" of the Pi Gua Palm technique.

He kicked out with force originating from his spine and transmitted to his heel; it was the "Heart-Piercing Kick," a powerful and unparalleled kick in the Northern style of leg techniques!

His punches and kicks were no longer simple blows, but were filled with the terrifying explosive power of high explosives!

Just like Master Huang back then, breaking stones with force was already a piece of cake for him, and he could even do it more cleanly and efficiently!

Looking at the stones scattered on the ground, Cang Lian felt a surge of heroic spirit.

"The 'Heaven-Opening Force' truly lives up to its reputation as a top-tier martial art, directly pointing to the essence of martial arts. Although I have never practiced those moves and techniques, this punch and palm strike... have already grasped eighty percent of its true meaning!"

"After a year of diligent training, I've now reached the pinnacle of the Ming Jin stage!"

"Furthermore, his mastery of hypnosis has reached perfection; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he's invincible among those of the same level!"

"Oh, and this too!"

With a thought, Cang Lian sent out a wisp of spiritual energy, like an invisible thread, that instantly extended beyond the base, traversing a distance of a hundred meters.

Outside the base, beneath an old tree, the tiny red steel needle he had hidden was drawn in, transforming into a line of blood that pierced through the air and silently landed in his palm.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a surge of immense spiritual power, like a flood bursting its banks, instantly amplified it!

"Buzz—!"

The Blood Soul Needle trembled violently, emitting a sickening buzzing sound.

It transformed into a streak of crimson lightning, swirling and dancing wildly within the training room!

Its speed was so great that it left behind only streaks of bloody trails that intertwined in the air to form a web of death.

"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"

Those incredibly hard granite test stones were easily pierced by it, like butter cut by a hot knife, leaving smooth, mirror-like holes.

Cang Lian wanted to challenge his limits, so he pushed his mental power to an unprecedented level!

The needle's speed increased dramatically again, becoming so fast that it was completely invisible. All that could be seen was a blurry, blood-red afterimage dancing wildly in the room. Each flash was accompanied by a shrill whistling sound as the air was torn apart, and its attack power increased several times over!

When it was over, the Blood Soul Needle appeared deftly in his hand and remained motionless.

"call--!"

Cang Lian exhaled a deep breath, her face instantly turning several shades paler.

He assessed his own condition and frowned.

Over the past year, my spiritual power has grown several times stronger under the nourishment of the moonlight, but the extreme exertion I just exerted just now consumed nearly 30% of it in just a few seconds!

The immense exertion even caused him to lose some control over his own body.

At this moment, he was also secretly alarmed: "I didn't expect that once my mental energy is overdrawn, it will produce severe dizziness and a feeling of brain swelling, which will greatly weaken my control over my body."

He tried to raise his hand and felt his body become slightly heavy, as if he were wearing an invisible suit of armor, making it difficult to circulate his energy.

"From now on, you can't use your mental energy carelessly!"

He stared intently at the blood-red needle in his palm.

"This needle will henceforth be my gun! It must never be used lightly except in a life-or-death situation!"

He calmed his breathing and reassessed his strength.

"Now, with this unexpected Blood Soul Needle, just how powerful have I become? I'm afraid I can slaughter any Ming Jin martial artist! Even against An Jin martial artists, I could probably use my speed and surprise attack to cut them down with this needle!"

"As for neutralizing internal force... they can neutralize force, and their ability to hear, sense, and control internal force has reached a terrifying level. I'm afraid even my Blood Soul Needles wouldn't be able to get close!"

"If only someone could help me verify this... But both the 'Heaven-Opening Force' and the Blood Soul Divine Needle are my biggest secrets, and they must never be revealed to anyone easily!"

With these thoughts in mind, he couldn't help but think of something even more important.

"My strength has reached this point, it's time to consider my next cultivation method. But before accepting any missions..."

Cang Lian belatedly realized a very real problem.

"... I need to go back to the Cang family first and ask for some money."

He did the math: over the past year, he had spent all the money on accommodation, renting advanced training rooms, various equipment, and daily meals. All that was left was the more than 500 silver dollars he had brought from the Cang family. Now he was completely broke!

"Very well." Cang Lian smiled.

"Right now, I haven't broken ties with the Cang family yet, so I'm still nominally a member of the Cang family. The Cang family is my ATM."

Just as he was plotting how to extract more resources from the Cang family, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his palm!

He suddenly raised his hand and saw that the Blood Soul Needle lying quietly in his palm had been covered with strange blood-red runes, as if it were alive and greedily absorbing his blood!

A chilling, violent aura, filled with destructive desire, rushed into his mind through the wound!

"This bloodthirsty aura... is truly sinister!"

Cang Lian's expression changed instantly; he felt his mental energy being polluted and impacted by this aura.

"This Blood Soul Needle truly lives up to its reputation as an artifact of an evil cult; it is indeed utterly malevolent!"

He felt a chill run down his spine and quickly channeled his energy to send the Blood Soul Needle flying.

The steel needle tumbled a few times in the air before the runes on its surface slowly disappeared, and it fell to the ground, returning to its ordinary appearance.