High Martial: I Can Copy All Root Bones!

Lu Changfeng was still using the same two Light Body Techniques from his time in the Blood Forging Realm.

There wasn’t much difference between Light Body Techniques in the Blood Forging Realm; they were all about the application of force.

Once a Martial Artist advanced to the Tendon Transformation Realm and generated Inner Strength, those with true Light Body Talent would develop a huge gap in Body Technique compared to their peers.

That was why Lu Changfeng planned to cultivate a new Light Body Technique only after he advanced to the Tendon Transformation Realm.

When he returned to the Martial Arts Hall, it was already past midnight.

Lu Changfeng first circulated his qi and blood to force out the alcohol fumes before vaulting over the wall and into the Martial Arts Hall.

’No need to bother the gatekeeper this late.’

It was the latter half of the night, so naturally, no disciples were cultivating on the training grounds.

In fact, Lu Changfeng had Hei Niu clear the grounds before midnight.

With so many talented disciples in the Martial Arts Hall now, Hei Niu naturally couldn’t hold on to his position as the top disciple. He had voluntarily taken on the role of supervisor for the Changle Martial Arts Hall, assisting Lu Changfeng with its management.

The training grounds in the front courtyard were completely empty.

However, the rear courtyard of the Changle Martial Arts Hall was still bustling with activity.

When Lu Changfeng returned, he saw Sikong Jue, Zhisha, and Teng Xiaofan still sitting together, discussing martial arts.

These three were the hall’s true top fighters, and their potential for growth was immense.

Although Sikong Jue had only just entered the Tendon Transformation Realm, the boost from his bloodline, coupled with his Sword Dao Talent, made him far stronger than his peers.

Zhisha, at the Bone Refining Second Heaven, possessed an Upper A Class Root Bone and High-Grade Fist Technique Talent, making him the strongest of the three.

As for Teng Xiaofan, it went without saying. Although he was only at the Grand Martial Artist Realm, a hair’s breadth from beginning Bone Refining, he was not only a master of Disguise and Transformation, but his Lightweight Skill was also extraordinary.

Even an ordinary cultivator at the Second or Third Layer of Bone Refining couldn’t necessarily match his speed.

The three of them only stood up to return to their rooms after Lu Changfeng came back.

Lu Changfeng knew, of course, that they had been waiting up to make sure he was safe. The thought warmed his heart.

Of course, Lu Changfeng wasn’t about to rest. ’The Heroic Root Bone is waiting for me to copy it.’

He went straight into the Cultivation Chamber, sat cross-legged, composed himself, and immediately summoned the interface.

"Interface, transmit the Heroic Root Bone to me!"

"Beginning transmission!"

Lu Changfeng immediately felt a mysterious energy surge into his body.

As the energy continued to transform his Root Bone, there came a moment when Lu Changfeng’s perception of the world suddenly and drastically changed.

With his eyes closed, he could use a unique sense to keenly perceive the existence of the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy.

It appeared as clusters of gray, mist-like gas.

’The Heroic Root Bone can naturally sense the existence of Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy!’

’No wonder those who possess it are called Heroes.’

The mysterious energy’s transformation of Lu Changfeng’s Root Bone was still underway.

Lu Changfeng found that even the qi and blood in his body became more active, stirred by the transformation of his Root Bone.

A few moments later, the transmission finished. The interface displayed a notification: Heroic Root Bone successfully copied!

Lu Changfeng opened the interface.

Name: Lu Changfeng

Root Bone: Hero (20%), Upper A Class x2, Middle A Class x3

Talent: Supreme Talent [Longevity Sword Dao (Lifespan +3.5 years, Combat Power +0.8%)], High-Grade Talent [Flying Swallow], High-Grade Talent [Fist Martial Arts], High-Grade Talent [Saber Extremity], Low-Grade Palm Technique.

Bloodline Talent: [Ancient Sword Bone Dragon 0.5% (Ancient-level Demon Fiend Bloodline, increases physical constitution by 30% upon activation), (Demon Fiend Skill ’Sword Bone Demon Rain’)].

Realm: Blood Forging Eighth Layer

Blood Forging Technique: [Fengtian Body Forging Saber Skill] Eighth Level (Only primary cultivation technique is displayed)

Martial Arts: [Blood Burst Step] Perfection, [Antelope Leaping Skill] Perfection, [Falling Leaves Saber Technique] Perfection, [Long-Armed Great Ape Fist] Great Success, [Blood-Drinking Frenzy Saber] Great Success

Martial Arts Insights: Storm Sword Intent (Intermediate Sword Intent) (Sword attack power +210%), Falling Leaves Saber Intent (Basic Saber Intent) (Saber attack power +55%)

Copy Cooldown: 49 days

A separate notification box popped up on the interface, detailing the Heroic Root Bone.

[Heroic] Root Bone: You are a one-in-a-million Hero, born with the ability to absorb Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy for your own use. The appearance of every Hero often brings great progress to the Martial Arts of the Human Race.

In the Ancient Era, the birth of a Hero meant a tribe’s chances of survival increased dramatically.

The [Heroic] Root Bone has a completion percentage, which can be increased by continuously aligning with your Martial Arts Faith. It can also absorb excess Root Bones from this interface to increase its completion percentage.

Excess Root Bones detected in the host’s body. Do you wish to absorb them?

’This ability of the Heroic Root Bone to absorb other Root Bones, as displayed by the interface, is probably unique to me,’ Lu Changfeng thought.

’After all, no one else has a Copy Talent that would allow them to duplicate extra Root Bones.’

An ordinary person’s Root Bone is innate. Of course, one couldn’t rule out the possibility of an accident causing the Root Bone to mutate and improve.

But even if it mutated, they would still only have a single Root Bone. This was fundamentally different from Lu Changfeng’s situation, where multiple Root Bones coexisted within him.

Lu Changfeng focused on the changes in his body after obtaining the Heroic Root Bone.

His body felt lighter and more agile, and his senses were far sharper.

Moreover, at only twenty percent completion, the boosting effect the Heroic Root Bone had on his qi and blood cultivation already far surpassed that of an Upper A Class Root Bone.

The remaining Root Bones listed on the interface were now completely useless to him.

’Might as well let the Heroic Root Bone absorb them.’

Thus, Lu Changfeng chose to absorb them immediately.

An Upper A Class Root Bone provided five percent completion, and a Middle A Class one provided one percent.

After the absorption was complete, Lu Changfeng’s Root Bone became [Hero (33%)].

Instantly, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy began to surge into him even faster.

This caused the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy immediately around Lu Changfeng to become slightly denser than the energy further away.

Fortunately, ordinary people, unlike Lu Changfeng, could not ’see’ the existence of Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy.

Their perception of it was not sensitive, and they required special instruments for detection.

Otherwise, a single glance would be enough to reveal that there was something extraordinary about him.

In the Ancient Era, when Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy was abundant, the phenomenon surrounding Lu Changfeng would likely have been very obvious. Perhaps the legendary Qi Observation Technique was real after all.

"No wonder those great Heroes always seem to have capable helpers."

"Because if you stay by a Hero’s side long enough, you absorb more Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy and naturally get stronger more easily," Lu Changfeng concluded with a wry, internal chuckle.

’Now that I’ve copied the Heroic Root Bone, I have to test its effects.’

Lu Changfeng went to the rear courtyard.

Under the moonlight, he lifted the eight-hundred-jin crude iron saber and began to practice the Eighth Level of the Fengtian Body Forging Saber Skill.

Beneath the moon, Lu Changfeng swung the eight-hundred-jin crude iron saber with such power that it seemed to roar with wind.

During this process, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy began to surge into Lu Changfeng’s body at an even more astonishing rate.

Aided by the Heroic Root Bone, Lu Changfeng’s cultivation speed became terrifyingly fast.

The normally placid state of his qi and blood cultivation changed. Lu Changfeng once again felt the same sensation he’d had when breaking through from the Blood Forging Sixth Layer to the Seventh Layer.

’It’s difficult, but I’m actually making progress! This is completely different from before, when I felt like I’d hit a wall!’

As the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy gathered with the wind from his saber, Lu Changfeng’s figure became gradually shrouded in a hazy layer of light and shadow under the moon.

The wind from his saber gathered the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy, causing it to become faintly tangible!

’The Heroic Root Bone can actually cause strange phenomena when I cultivate! I’ll really have to make sure no one is around when I practice from now on.’

"HUFF..."

Lu Changfeng panted slightly, his practice session complete.

Nourished by the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy, Lu Changfeng surprisingly felt little fatigue after completing a full run-through of the Fengtian Body Forging Saber Skill’s Eighth Level.

This meant that with the Heroic Root Bone, Lu Changfeng could constantly replenish his energy from the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy even in the middle of a battle.

’Stamina will basically never be an issue!’

More importantly, with the boost from the Heroic Root Bone, the qi-and-blood-strengthening effects of practicing the Fengtian Body Forging Saber Skill had increased by at least twelve or thirteenfold!

"At this rate, I’ll be able to break through to the Ninth Level of the Fengtian Body Forging Saber Skill in a few months!"

"In a year at most, even without the help of a Buddha Heart Pill, I’ll be able to break through to the Blood Forging Ninth Layer and advance to the Tendon Transformation Realm from there!"

Lu Changfeng thought of the source of this Heroic Root Bone—Bai Yimeng.

The Heroic Root Bone was so powerful. Maybe his guess that Bai Yimeng’s true realm was already the Blood Forging Ninth Layer wasn’t a guess at all, but a fact.

However, according to the interface, the Heroic Root Bone needed to be nurtured.

Bai Yimeng might not have started with a [Hero (20%)] Root Bone either.

Instead, she must have elevated her Heroic Root Bone to this level step-by-step, by aligning it with her Martial Arts Faith.

And in the end, Lu Changfeng had just casually copied it, effortlessly reaping the fruits of her labor...

"If a Heroic Root Bone is this effective, it’s hard to imagine what an Earth Spirit Root Bone could do."

Lu Changfeng speculated that an Earth Spirit Root Bone might draw the direct attention of the world’s will.

One might even become a true Child of Destiny with heaven-defying luck, just like the protagonist of a novel or comic book.

"Following that line of thought, could the woman sleeping at the bottom of Fengtian Lake be the protagonist of this world from a different era?"

In her time, she too was likely a peerless, world-renowned figure.

Lu Changfeng reined in his wild thoughts and, with the aid of his Heroic Root Bone, practiced for several more repetitions.

The feeling of his qi and blood surging and continuing to grow was deeply reassuring to Lu Changfeng.

Only when he began to feel mentally exhausted did Lu Changfeng finally wash up and return to his room to sleep.

「For the next few days, Lu Changfeng waited for the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival to arrive.」

While waiting, he holed up in the rear courtyard of the Martial Arts Hall, frantically practicing the Fengtian Body Forging Saber Skill to advance his Blood Forging Realm.

After their initial shock, the other three in the rear courtyard gradually grew accustomed to Lu Changfeng’s monstrous progress.

’Only a figure like him is worthy of the title of Saint Demon Sect Master,’ they thought.

Lu Changfeng remained immersed in his cultivation until one particular day.

An old acquaintance, Steward Elder Yane Song of the Broken Moon Sect, came looking for Lu Changfeng, his expression cautious and reserved.

He carried a package with him.

Lu Changfeng met Yane Song in the main hall and dismissed everyone else.

Yane Song placed the package on the table and unwrapped it, revealing a tall box inside.

"Elder Lu, this is the Blood Forging Treasure our Sect Leader prepared for you!"

"The Sect Leader instructed that this item must be opened by you personally, Elder Lu!"

Now that Lu Changfeng had copied the Heroic Root Bone, he wasn’t as desperate for Blood Forging Treasures as he used to be.

But who would refuse something that could speed up their cultivation?

Lu Changfeng reached out, pulled the box closer, undid the lock, and opened it.

A thick, acrid stench assaulted his nostrils.

Lu Changfeng covered his nose and looked inside. To his surprise, the box contained a twitching, gray piece of flesh.

"This... it seems to be the legendary Tai Sui Meat." It was the well-traveled Teng Xiaofan who recognized its origin.

"I was able to advance to the Blood Forging Seventh Layer so quickly thanks to a small piece of Tai Sui Meat."

"This piece of Tai Sui Meat is enormous. The Sect Leader of the Broken Moon Sect must have gone to great trouble to acquire it," Teng Xiaofan remarked.

Yane Song gave Teng Xiaofan a thumbs-up. "You have a sharp eye, young hero."

"In fact, to obtain this piece of Tai Sui Meat, our Sect Leader personally led several Supreme Elders to annihilate a Demonic Sect."

"The Sect Leader was even injured in the process. He is now in seclusion back at the sect, recuperating."