Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

Su Mu left the Taiping Manor, swallowed by the raging fire. A series of crackling sounds came from his body, and his appearance and figure quickly transformed. After changing into clothes without the scent of blood, he swiftly traveled over twenty miles.

Striding into a small grove, at this moment, Su Mu had no time to try the method of breaking the Sumeru Ring obtained from Zen Heart.

The glow of destiny surged restlessly between his brows, like a flood dragon that could no longer be suppressed.

Su Mu sat down right away, and seated himself on a strange rock, entering into an inference.

The saying "An inch of time is an inch of gold" signifies that time and a person’s energy are extremely limited and precious. When a Martial Art is honed to its deepest level, even reaching perfection, it will give birth to a unique power.

However, now Su Mu had a full twenty Dao of Power within his body, a state ordinary martial artists might not reach in a lifetime despite their efforts. Moreover, Su Mu was not yet twenty years old, and his life had just begun.

Over the years, Su Mu had traveled throughout the Qingyun, Cang River, and Changfeng Three Counties, and as an assassin in Li Feiyu’s employ, he had killed many villains.

But up to this day, aside from himself, Su Mu had only sensed the Pill Force on Zen Heart. This convinced him of Zen Heart’s extraordinary nature.

Apart from that, even the elder of Hongmen Martial Arts Hall, one of the four major powers in Changfeng County, though his realm reached the Sixth Grade, his power remained at the Transforming Force level.

As for Su Mu’s encounters with several Protectors of the Black Mountain Army also stopped at the Transforming Force level.

Transforming Force in the Three Counties could already be considered a notable master, and the Pill Force above it was a realm that ordinary martial artists could not touch throughout their lives.

However, Su Mu was not satisfied with the Pill Force and intended to climb even higher, to break through to the Fifth Refining Force above the Pill Force!

Years swiftly flashed before Su Mu’s eyes.

His Martial Dao began with the Five Animals Qigong, and now it would advance to higher levels with the Five Animals Qigong.

"Hoo---------"

A breath was exhaled.

Su Mu, undistracted, instantly entered into the state of Soul Incarnation. The initially formed Strength Pill was smaller than a baby’s fist, and now it had grown nearly threefold.

With a thought.

The Strength Pill in the Dantian gently rotated, and in an instant, several power flood dragons burst forth from it, vigorous and strong.

"Refine the Pill Force, externalize power, Transforming Core into Gang..."

Su Mu repeatedly recited the description of Gang Force that Zen Heart found in the ancient texts, using it as the core to start a frantic inference.

Originally, Su Mu’s limit was simultaneously controlling five shadow figures for inference, but under the blessing of the Power of Fortune, the five shadows split into five more.

A total of ten shadow figures quickly sat cross-legged before him, conducting Gang Force inference in ten different directions.

Inference consumes mind and energy extensively. However, with the blessing of fortune and fate now, Su Mu seemed unable to feel the drain, as if his mind and energy were limitless, always replenished by an endless supply of fortunate power whenever consumed.

This increased Su Mu’s inference efficiency by several times!

Time passed, second by second.

Unknown how much time elapsed before the ten shadows, each inferring Gang Force in different directions, sequentially arrived at the same result.

"The first step is to temper the Pill Force, making it more refined.....For years, I’ve pursued quantity in forces, underestimating the quality."

Su Mu thought silently. It wasn’t surprising; Pill Force had already transformed from liquid to solid, inherently exceedingly pure. Ordinary people trained in Pill Force would naturally overlook this, but Su Mu was not ordinary, nor were his ambitions common!

"Huo Family, Prince Zhenbei, Pharmacist... Xiaoyue!"

After waking up from that battle, Su Mu finally understood Xiaoyue’s importance to him, recognizing what pain meant only after loss. Moreover, he was a man who held promises dearly, which was also a promise made to the Pharmacist.

Since then, Su Mu’s Martial Dao, besides being for himself, silently included the longing to bring Xiaoyue back under protection.

Understand own heart, know protection.

This is Su Mu’s Martial Dao.

And his enmity with Yuan Qing also must be avenged by his own hand.

"Central State... Su Mu will go there!"

Therefore, Su Mu needed to become stronger, continuously stronger, both to break free from all shackles, to control his fate, to behold the peak of Martial Dao, and to have the strength to protect those he treasured.

The ten shadows continued inferring under the blessing of destiny power, spiritual insights flashing through his mind, inspiration bursting like a spring, thoughts proliferating.

"Martial Artist, an independent man, relies not on external objects, seeks solely self... Use Fire Sparrow Force as furnace fire, purify the Strength Pill."

Scenes of swallowing Sparrow Blood Wine in the hidden cave appeared before his eyes, Sparrow Blood having the effect of burning Yin Sha Qi and removing impurities within the body, now transformed by Su Mu into Fire Sparrow Force, its purging impurity power persisting.

Su Mu’s resolve in his eyes became increasingly steadfast. Nevertheless, he did not directly begin the attempt; the blessing of destiny power was rare, and he could not spare any mind for other matters.

Upon spotting the correct path, nine of the shadow figures halted their incorrect paths instantly, successively operating Fire Sparrow Force to begin burning the Strength Pill.

"The furnace fire is weak, not hot enough!"

With a thought, flames suddenly rose around the ten shadow figures’ bodies, simultaneously unleashing the Molten Fire Golden Body and Fire Sparrow Transformation, Fire Sparrow Force inner, Molten Fire Force outer, turning into two scorching fires.

In this process, Jade Bone had to be activated as well. If one did not know it was for purifying power, an observer might think Su Mu was about to strike, using the full state as when he killed Gongsun Xin to refine his power now.