Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

Li Lu pushed open the wooden door of the wine room, and outside the house in the deep night, the rain brought a chill, forming a white curtain, ceaselessly continuous. Above the sky, storm clouds surged, and between the flashes of silver snakes, the thunderstorm drowned out the sound of dragon and elephant.

However, in the small courtyard, Li Lu saw it clearly.

Under the old locust tree, the figure was shrouded in golden light. Faintly, a phantom of one dragon and one elephant formed, seemingly like a deity descending to the earth.

"Master... he broke through again!"

Li Lu was genuinely delighted for Su Mu, but amid the intense joy, a few worries arose. That dragon-elephant surrounded figure was too dazzlingly brilliant, while she was merely like a firefly in comparison to the bright moon, a vast difference.

"Perhaps one day, Master will leave..."

Li Lu clenched her fists tightly, not knowing whether it was because of splashing rain or the afterglow of the night wind, little girl's eyes unknowingly turned moist, "I've been very lucky... at least for now, Master hasn't left yet."

For a long time.

The figure under the locust tree trembled all over, and the dragon-elephant raised its head and roared again, the muscles, bones, and flesh of the figure resonated together. In an instant, the phantom of the dragon-elephant emitted a great golden light, then fell on the shoulder and back, transforming into a dragon pattern, and an elephant pattern.

Three-Turn Dragon Elephant Skill (Small Success 1%)

Comprehension: 184 (Dragon-and-Phoenix Level)

"The first turn of Three-Turn Dragon Elephant Skill has been completed!"

"Three-Turn Dragon Elephant Skill", a top-notch fifth-grade horizontal training martial arts, was a unique martial art bestowed by the Arhat Realm ancestor of Vajra Temple, allowing for simultaneous Buddhist and martial cultivation. Three-Turn Dragon Elephant Skill is divided into three turns.

After completing each turn, it is claimed to increase 'Dragon Power', and after cultivating to the third turn, one can even directly possess divine power rivaling fourth-grade cultivators.

At this moment, Su Mu felt two violent forces erupting from the dragon-elephant pattern on his shoulders and back. These forces surged throughout the limbs and pulses within the body, causing the flesh, bones, and muscles to transmit a tearing pain all over for a while.

"Eh!"

But Su Mu quickly let out a light "eh" and promptly suppressed the inherent resistance of Jiao Tendons and Jade Bone, allowing these two forces to wreak havoc in his body.

"Crack-crack--!"

Every inch of flesh, every inch of bone continuously emitted dense crackling sounds, yet at this time, Su Mu was pleasantly surprised, sensing that the long stagnant and slow progress of Jiao Tendons and Jade Bone showed signs of disturbance.

The two violent forces of Three-Turn Dragon Elephant Skill, after tearing apart flesh and bones, integrated into them, aiding in further advancement of his whole body of Jiao Tendons Jade Bone!

Upon discovering this, Su Mu completely abandoned resistance, silently gritting his teeth to endure. This pain is nothing, and at this moment, Su Mu even multitasked, feeding the comprehension warm flow to the Vast Qi within the body.

For a long time.

Su Mu gently breathed out, feeling rather unsatisfied. Meanwhile, the door of the wine room quietly closed at this moment, which naturally did not escape Su Mu's notice, triggering a subtle emotion within him.

The little girl was worried about his cultivation matters.

"Vast Qi has now reached four hundred and sixty-eight strands... perhaps the next breakthrough will be at five hundred strands."

Su Mu foresaw that upon cultivating to five hundred strands of Vast Qi, he would break through to the next realm, advancing from eighth grade to become a seventh-grade Confucian Cultivator. His progress in cultivating Confucian Skill was impressively swift.

Since officially starting cultivation in Confucian Skill less than a year ago, breaking through three grades in one year, going from none to merely reaching seventh-grade through a single technique, "Nurturing Vast Qi," mid-way entry-level.

This cultivation speed is considered extraordinary even among other skill cultivators, not to mention within the Confucian Sect, recognized as one of the slowest cultivating sects among the five major Dharma Gates.

Originally in martial dao, starting from the first technique Tiger Subduing Fist, Su Mu spent nearly four years reaching seventh-grade, whereas on the Confucian Dao, Su Mu spent only a quarter of that time.

However, Su Mu did not indulge in complacency, guessing that perhaps he possessed some talent, but mostly because the initial cultivation conditions in martial dao did not compare to now; comprehension at that time started from zero, moreover his Vast Qi mostly relied on devouring comprehension warm flow for improvement.

Yet, Su Mu overlooked one point.

Being able to condense the Life Character at the lower three grades is beyond ordinary talent.

Currently, Su Mu mainly engages in martial dao cultivation, with Confucian Vast Qi as a supplement, cultivating Vast Qi mainly to improve his spiritual power.

Thinking of this, Su Mu slowly stood up, his eyes bright. Every inch of skin, flesh, and blood surged with divine power, giving a few hints of entering a limit-breaking state feedback, yet at present, he hadn't activated any power.

With a thought.

A white light flashed, Su Mu gripped the void, and the Golden Jiao Spear was in hand.

"Crack-crack!"

Su Mu's slender five fingers resolutely grasped the spear tip of the Golden Jiao Spear in hand, each inch of skin upon contact with the cold light revealing a faint golden glow. This seemingly insignificant brilliance contained many perfected horizontal training martial arts tempered over time, further empowered by Molten Fire Golden Bell and Three-Turn Dragon Elephant Skill.

The skin of the palm rubbed against the spear tip, producing intricate crackling sounds.

The Golden Jiao Spear was a fifth-grade Dharma Artifact; even when not activated, its sharpness was not comparable to a Treasure Artifact, capable of cutting through iron easily like mud. Yet now Su Mu, a sixth-grade martial artist, gripped the fifth-grade Dharma Artifact unharmed.

"Apply a bit more force... to test the normal limit of the current flesh body."

Su Mu exerted his palm, his five fingers grasping, creating whistling winds, one thousand, three thousand, six thousand pounds. As the strength continuously increased, the faint golden glow on Su Mu's skin became brighter.

The skin then recessed under the cutting of the spear tip, until exceeding ten thousand pounds, the tight recessed skin suddenly split open, instantly splashing blood.

"Unless I apply any means... under ten thousand pounds, the sharpness of the fifth-grade Dharma Artifact itself can hurt me."

Su Mu's thoughts raced rapidly, among lower three grades martial artists, an Eighth-Grade Bone Forger Martial Artist exceeds one thousand pounds with a single arm. To reach ten thousand pounds, an ordinary Seventh-Grade Martial Artist needs a full explosion of tendon power to achieve.

Yet if gang force is infused into the fifth-grade Dharma Artifact, even just activating ten percent of the artifact's power can harm oneself.

"If completely unguarded and gang force is entirely exhausted... a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist fighting desperately, with a fifth-grade Dharma Artifact in hand, can cause me harm."

Su Mu's eyes condensed, gaining a clearer understanding of his current flesh body's strength concerning why it's in the condition of gang force completely exhausted.

Ever since the moment Su Mu condensed his strength into Gang Force, it was as natural as breathing. Even if he neglected the Martial Dao in the future, the Gang Force would grow stronger with every breath.

Similarly, unless exhausted or suppressed by Su Mu himself, this ever-growing Gang Force would follow him for life like an invisible armor, crushing anyone with malicious intent who dares to attack him.

"Let's test the transformation of the Three-Turn Dragon Elephant Skill!"

Su Mu's gaze swept around, finally landing on a young locust tree as thick as a bowl in the small courtyard. He approached in one step, extended an arm, and the dragon-elephant tattoo on his shoulder and back lit up.

"Crack—!"

The locust tree's deeply rooted and developed root system was suddenly shaken by a divine force, causing the surrounding bluestone bricks to protrude inch by inch. In a single tremor, the locust tree was uprooted from the ground.

Su Mu carefully felt the power eruption during this process, with shadows in his eyes conducting detailed inferences.

"The ancient texts from that old bald donkey are indeed not entirely trustworthy. After mastering the first turn of the Dragon Elephant Skill, my pure physical strength... has only increased by about twenty thousand pounds."

Su Mu glanced at the uprooted locust tree in his hand, secretly noting the exaggeration in the ancient texts. Although an increase of twenty thousand pounds of strength isn't insignificant, it's far from what's described in the texts.

The Three-Turn Dragon Elephant Skill describes each turn as enhancing one dragon and one elephant's power. Normally, an elephant's power is ten thousand pounds, a Jiao's power is ten elephants or one hundred thousand pounds, and a dragon's power is ten Jiao or one million pounds.

Thus, the power of one dragon and one elephant should be one million and ten thousand pounds. But it only increased by two elephants' worth of power, an immense disparity indeed.

However, Su Mu had anticipated this. If mastering just one turn could increase one's strength by a million pounds out of thin air, the Three-Turn Dragon Elephant Skill wouldn't just be a mere fifth-grade horizontal training technique; it would at least be an upper three-grade technique.

"Calculating this way, when I achieve perfection in three turns, I can likely gain the power of six elephants. If rounding, I could claim the power of a Jiao."

"If mastering three turns can truly rival fourth-grade cultivators, then each strike of a fourth-grade cultivator should start at the destructive force of at least one hundred thousand pounds. If combined with cultivation techniques or Dharma artifacts, the ultimate destructive power can probably reach several Jiao's strength... but likely still not a dragon's power."

Below a dragon, above a Jiao!

Su Mu squinted slightly, vaguely speculating on a fourth-grade cultivator's combat strength and also making a rough judgment of his own, believing his current strength to be within this range.

As for the accuracy of these speculations, it would need to be tested in tomorrow's tournament by the geniuses of the four great noble families and the major powers of Donglai.

While pondering, the door of the nearby tavern creaked open, and Li Lu's eyes widened abruptly, letting out a cry of astonishment.

Su Mu was taken aback, feeling Li Lu's shock gaze fall on his hand. Only then did he realize he was still holding the locust tree, and he quietly let go without changing his expression.

"Boom!"

A dull thud accompanied by a tremor passed through the small courtyard.

...

Under the same rain, the undercurrents in Donglai's various mansions surged.

The Tao Family Ancestral Hall.

A powerful wave of spiritual Qi pulsed, lighting up the formation patterns within the Tao Family Ancestral Hall, concealing the breakthrough commotion. After a long while, the person inside completed the breakthrough, and Tao Xinglie opened his eyes and stood up, his eyes filled with ecstasy.

"Father, I've broken through to the late stage of the fifth grade! In tomorrow's tournament, even Song Jingyuan and Guo Zhen won't be my match!"

The middle-aged man in the upper seat wore a solemn expression, speaking slowly: "Fists and feet are blind. On tomorrow's stage, if you encounter anyone from the Li Family, do not hold back." He paused slightly, and a flash of red light suddenly appeared in his palm.

"Not only must you win this battle, but you must win grandly to spread our Tao Family's prestige."

"This is..."

Tao Xinglie's pupils contracted, his brow furrowed. He was now in the late stage of the fifth grade, and even the likes of Song Jingyuan and Guo Zhen among the younger generation in Donglai County were no longer his rivals.

As for the Li Family, the Lin Family, the Zhou Family?

They were nothing more than chickens and dogs, completely disregarded by him. Tao Xinglie could win openly and honorably and needed not rely on such an artifact!

"Father... indeed thinks I'm inferior to my elder brothers!"

Tao Xinglie's fists clenched unknowingly in his sleeves, a trace of unwillingness flashing deep in his eyes.

"Xinglie... these are the wishes of the ancestors."

"Xinglie understands."

Tao Xinglie took a breath, the unwillingness in his eyes fading, and he lowered his head in response.

Meanwhile, deep in Donglai County Mansion.

"Tomorrow, Sister Hongtang will also be present. In the past, I had to remain wary of both Tao Xinglie and Guo Zhen to some extent... But times have changed."

Song Jingyuan slowly retracted his energy, exhaling a breath of turbid air, a flash of sharpness in his eyes, a cold smile forming at the corner of his lips.

"The top position in this tournament will surely be mine, Song Jingyuan's. If, in the Donglai's Four Families Tournament, I, an outsider, were to seize the top spot, it would be quite the spectacle."

"I want all four families to become stepping stones for me, Song Jingyuan, to become a direct disciple of Qingfeng Temple!"

The White Whale Gang, White Whale Hall.

"Bandits are ultimately bandits, nothing but a ragtag bunch incapable of any real threat, failing even in such trivial matters."

"Gang Leader, about tomorrow's plan..."

"The plan remains unchanged." The tall figure in the shadowed upper seat spoke in a deep, cold voice. "Disciple, you need not worry about the Tao Family tomorrow. Even if you face them, do not hold back."

He paused slightly, his gaze sweeping over those standing in attendance below.

"You lot, go tomorrow and probe my dear senior brother's capabilities for me."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!