My Martial Dao Has No Bottlenecks

Too fast!

Too precise!

Liang Cheng didn’t have time to defend; he could only desperately jerk his head to the side.

At the same time, the incarnation’s Zhenxian Saber followed like a shadow, coming to rest against his neck.

The cold steel pressed against his skin, the scent of death hanging palpably in the air.

The incarnation stood holding the saber, watching him without expression.

Liang Cheng’s body stiffened. He slowly lowered the saber in his hand.

He had lost.

A battle between equals, facing a "perfect version" of himself.

He was defeated.

Then, with a flash of golden light, the incarnation and the saber at his neck vanished as if they had never been there.

Silence returned to the corridor, broken only by Liang Cheng’s ragged breaths.

He knelt on one knee, using his saber to support himself. His eyes were filled with shock, and a glimmer of understanding.

’So this is the true test of the Thousand Machines Corridor.’

Slaying the past is easy; conquering the present is hard.

The true opponent has always been oneself.

Liang Cheng took a deep breath, suppressing his turbulent Qi Blood and stray thoughts. Without hesitation, he took out the True Gang Pill he had obtained from Shi Podang.

He opened the Jade Bottle, and a pure, heavy medicinal fragrance filled the air.

Liang Cheng tilted his head back and swallowed it.

The Elixir entered his stomach and transformed into a torrent of energy—scorching hot, yet pure and gentle. It instantly surged through his limbs and bones, finally converging in his Dantian.

His nine Gang Qi Seeds, like a parched land receiving sweet rain, greedily absorbed this pure energy. Their rotation speed suddenly accelerated, their volume swelled faintly, and the Gang Qi they emitted grew more condensed and vigorous.

The Fourth Layer of the Broken Wave Technique operated at full capacity, guiding the Medicinal Power through a Circulation of the Celestial Cycle.

Two hours later, Liang Cheng opened his eyes. They shone with a brilliant light, and the Gang Qi fluctuations around his body were clearly a notch stronger than before.

But he didn’t stop. His Mixed Element Gang Body, at the Perfection Realm, had given him resilient Meridians, allowing him to endure far more than other Martial Artists of the same Realm.

Combined with the Crossing the Sea True Intent Fragment, he decisively swallowed another True Gang Pill.

Only after finishing all ten True Gang Pills, when his Meridians reached their limit, did he finally stop.

[Broken Wave Technique Fourth Layer: Beginner Level (607/10000)]

His Cultivation had advanced again!

Liang Cheng clenched his fists, feeling the stronger power surging within him. The fighting spirit in his eyes rekindled.

"This time, I will defeat you!"

He shot to his feet, pointed his Zhenxian Saber forward, and without a shred of hesitation, took another step forward!

The golden light in the corridor gathered in response.

The True Gang Incarnation appeared once more, its form and appearance unchanged. The Zhenxian Saber in its hand gleamed with a cold light.

However, the moment the incarnation solidified, Liang Cheng’s pupils shrank violently.

’The aura this incarnation is emitting...’

’It’s grown stronger, too!’

It was still just a sliver stronger than his own current state, maintaining a level of theoretical perfection for their shared Realm.

It generated a corresponding "perfect mirror image" based on the challenger’s current peak state!

When his Cultivation improved, the incarnation improved in sync!

"How can this be?"

Liang Cheng’s heart sank. This trial couldn’t be passed simply by stacking up one’s Cultivation.

Just then, the incarnation moved again.

The flash of its saber was the same as before. Its execution of the Mountain-Breaking Saber Technique was flawless, its power, speed, and angles still impeccable.

Liang Cheng let out a low roar and swung his saber to meet it!

"CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG—!"

Flashes of saber light collided, and Gang Qi surged.

This time, Liang Cheng lasted longer. He was more familiar with the incarnation’s moves and patterns, and his occasional counterattacks even managed to force the incarnation onto the defensive.

Thirty moves, forty moves, a hundred moves...

Liang Cheng pushed his newfound strength to its limits. The Glazed Light Membrane of his Mixed Element Gang Body was indestructible, and he paired the extreme speed of his Wind and Thunder Slash with his Mountain-Breaking Saber, appearing and disappearing in an attempt to disrupt the incarnation’s rhythm.

However, the incarnation was too perfect.

It was like a combat machine that never made a mistake, always neutralizing his attacks with minimal cost and retaliating from an even more difficult angle.

After one hundred and twenty moves, Liang Cheng was once again forced onto the defensive.

The True Gang Incarnation suddenly changed its move. As its blade swept past, Liang Cheng barely had time to parry with his Zhenxian Saber before it was knocked slightly aside.

An opening!

The incarnation immediately seized the fleeting opportunity, thrusting its saber straight for Liang Cheng’s throat!

Liang Cheng desperately dodged. The blade scraped past his neck as the incarnation’s left hand, formed into a sword finger, followed like a shadow, once again jabbing toward the spot between his eyebrows.

Liang Cheng threw himself backward, protecting his body with Gang Qi.

"PFFT!"

Although his Protective Gang Qi wasn’t pierced, it fluctuated violently. If the attack continued, his defense would likely have been broken.

The outcome was decided.

The incarnation did not press the attack. It stood holding its saber, watching him indifferently.

Liang Cheng staggered back several steps, leaning on his saber. The Gang Qi inside him was in disarray.

Defeated again.

He stared intently at that perfect figure until it dissolved into golden light.

The corridor fell silent once more, leaving only his heavy panting.

’If I improve my Cultivation, it improves in sync. That path is a dead end.’

Liang Cheng’s gaze remained sharp, showing no sign of defeat.

’Then, there is only one path left: Combat Techniques!’

’My Mixed Element Gang Body is at Perfection, my Mountain-Breaking Saber is at Perfection, my Wind and Thunder Slash is at Perfection, my Wandering Dragon Step is at Perfection, and my Profound Yin Sword Technique is at Perfection. All the Combat Techniques I can practice have already reached their limit.’

’If I want to overcome this ’Perfect Incarnation’, I have to break through my limits!’

A clear thought surfaced in his mind: Fusion.

Just as he had once integrated the Gale Saber Technique into the incomparably hard and fierce Wind and Thunder Slash, causing its power to skyrocket.

’So now, can I completely fuse the extreme speed of the Wind and Thunder Slash with the domineering Mental Realm of the Mountain-Breaking Saber that severs all things?’

At this thought, a blazing light ignited in Liang Cheng’s eyes.

He did not step forward to trigger the trial again. Instead, right there in the corridor, he sat down cross-legged and first took an Elixir to recover his strength.

Once he had recovered, he stood up, took a deep breath, and began to practice his saber.

He had no specific goal, simply practicing the basic moves of the Wind and Thunder Slash and the Mountain-Breaking Saber over and over.

At times, his saber struck like wind and thunder—swift, violent, and pursuing the ultimate in speed and explosive power.

At other times, his Saber Momentum was like a mountain—heavy and majestic, imbued with the resolute will to sever all things.

The two Saber Techniques were completely different in style: one fast, one heavy; one swift, one steady.

At first, he tried to forcibly fit the moves of the Wind and Thunder Slash into the framework of the Mountain-Breaking Saber, but the result was a sluggish Saber Momentum and greatly reduced power.

Then he tried to suddenly accelerate while using the Mountain-Breaking Saber, but it destroyed the continuity of the Blade Intent and instead exposed even greater openings.

’No, it’s not simple splicing.’

Liang Cheng stopped to think.

’The essence of the Wind and Thunder Slash is ’fast’ and ’explosive,’ like a sudden squall, destroying everything in an instant.’

’The essence of the Mountain-Breaking Saber is ’sever’ and ’heavy,’ like a river bursting its banks, crushing everything in its path.’

’How can the two coexist? How can they complement each other?’

He swung his saber again.

This time, he no longer deliberately distinguished between the moves. He simply followed a vague feeling, seeking that momentary balance of being both fast and heavy, both swift and steady, in the process of his strike.

Saber light scattered as Gang Qi crisscrossed the air.

Ten times, a hundred times, three hundred times...

Time flowed by silently in the quiet corridor. Hours might have passed, or even an entire day.

Liang Cheng was completely lost in his practice, his eyes seeing only the saber in his hand, his mind filled with only those two completely different sets of moves.

Then he swung his saber over a thousand times.

Sweat soaked his clothes. His arms grew sore and numb. Time and again, he depleted the True Gang in his body.

Each time he was exhausted, he would take an Elixir, sit cross-legged to meditate and recover, and once his Gang Qi was restored, he would rise again and continue to swing his saber.

’Mayfly Life Chart. No bottlenecks, only guaranteed success!’

He thought back on his path of the Martial Dao. When had he not cultivated with every fiber of his being?

"Right now, it’s just not enough effort! I haven’t reached the point of qualitative change!"

"Then I’ll just keep practicing!"

He swallowed an Elixir to replenish his Gang Qi, felt the energy dissolve within him, and raised his long saber once more.

Within the corridor, the sound of Gang Qi tearing through the air was endless.

Monotonous!

Repetitive!

One slash!

Another slash!